Norwegian transport company Norled has ordered the cancellation of newbuilding contracts for two high-speed ferries that it had ordered from local boatbuilder Brødrene Aa.
Norled Head of Communications Cathrine Gjertsen told local news outlet Kystens Næringsliv about the contract cancellations, which were due to delays and issues with the vessels' operating performance.
Gjertsen said that Norled has not seen any effort on the part of the builder to, "solve the speed problems."
Norled had already ordered the cancellation of an earlier vessel. With these recent cancellations, the operator will no longer proceed with its acquisition of all three vessels, which were slated for deployment in the Trondheimsfjord and were originally scheduled to be delivered in 2024.
"We therefore had to find another solution for the Trondheimsfjord that took care of passengers and the client," added Gjertsen.
Brødrene Aa is now working towards finding new buyers for the second and third ferries, which are still unfinished, though company Chair Gustav Johan Nydal said that their cancellation, "was as expected."
The first ferry among the three has already been put up for sale while the other two vessels still need to be completed.
The cancellations are the latest issues to befall Brødrene Aa, which had earlier announced a series of layoffs in connection with the delayed deliveries of the Norled ferries.
Following the cancellation of the first Norled vessel, Brødrene Aa entered into an agreement with Sparebank 1 and customers Fjord 1 and Rødne to ensure continued operations until Friday, May 9, by which time a solution will need to be found to prevent layoffs.
Nydal said the deadline has now been moved a week later to May 16 and that Brødrene Aa is now, "actively working to find a good way forward."
Norled's Trondheimsfjord will be temporarily served by diesel-powered ferries until viable replacement vessels become available.
Although not a requirement of the original contract with Norled, Brødrene Aa intended to equip the ferries with swappable batteries.
Gjertsen clarified, however, that the cancellation was due to delays in the vessels' delivery and not because of the work on the batteries.
She reiterated that Norled and Brødrene Aa are continuing to collaborate, partly because of the latter's work on earlier vessels ordered by the operator.
"They have previously delivered several vessels to us. It is a pity that this time the vessels did not achieve the necessary speed and were severely delayed."
