Sea Trucks slams offshore vessel arrest in Singapore

The offshore construction vessel Jascon 18, formerly owned by Sea Trucks Group, has been arrested in Singapore. According to data found on the website of Singapore’s Supreme Court, the vessel was arrested on January 7, 2016.

Sea Trucks Group, the former owner of the vessel, this week issued a statement saying the arrest was without merit.

The company said it sold the vessel in March 2015 while under construction to new owners, who are independent of Sea Trucks. These owners engaged Sea Trucks to complete construction of the Jascon 18, the company added.

Jascon 18 was arrested on behalf of a shipyard in Singapore, SeaTrucks said, adding that the shipyard had worked on construction of the vessel until November 2015, at which point the vessel sailed following completion of the yard’s work.

Sea Trucks said: “Sea Trucks considers the arrest to be without merit, having arisen out of a dispute between a Group subsidiary company and the shipyard. Sea Trucks is providing the vessel’s owners with its full support in seeking the vessel’s prompt release.

Sea Trucks will remain in close dialogue with its subcontractors to ensure the final completion works can be carried out on the vessel as soon as possible. This arrest in no way affects Sea Trucks’ ability to pay contractors.”

Jascon 18 is a 150 meters long DP3 offshore construction vessel. The vessel is capable of performing various marine construction and pipelay tasks in both ultra deepwater and continental shelf environments.