Subsea firm Mermaid Group has said an agreement has now been reached after a subcontractor accused it of owing $635,000 in overdue payments.
Nathan Russell, commercial director at ConnTrak Catering Services, posted on Linkedin this week (since deleted) that Mermaid’s Thailand division owed $635,000, months overdue, after completing a job on one of their subsea vessels.
Mr Russell said: “We have followed up multiple times with Mermaid management acknowledge (sic) the debt, do not contest it, simply refuse to pay it.”
He said Mermaid had threatened to “tie us up in court for years” if ConnTrak try to take legal action – something Mermaid has denied.
Mr Russell added: “We are a small privately owned business and corporations like Mermaid Subsea should be treating supply chain with some (sic).
“The offshore sector should know the realities of dealing with this company, of which we believed were an ethical client.”
Asked about the comments by Energy Voice, Mermaid Group supply chain director Brett Daniel said he promptly inquired about the matter this morning.
“It was reported that there was a dispute however, I personally contacted Nathan, and I am pleased to inform you that an amicable solution has been reached and this can be confirmed by Nathan.
“I believe the matter is now resolved, and all parties involved are content.”
Mermaid said its legal department has not made threats and will be following up with ConnTrak this week to discuss.
Headquartered in South-east Asia, Mermaid Group has subsea operations around the world, including a UK subsidiary which launched in 2020.
ConnTrak Catering Services is based in Abu Dhabi, with offices in Aberdeen, Nigeria and Thailand.
Delayed payments have been a key issue for the oil and gas industry supply chain.
In 2022, the UK’s North Sea Transition Authority said 29% of 475,000 invoices paid by operators the previous year took more than 30 days to process.