North Sea operator Maersk has said its Flyndre development will forge ahead despite creditors terminating charters for two boats contracted to support the project.
Last month Maersk Oil North Sea agreed a multi-million pound contract for the Harkand Da Vinci and Harkand Atlantis to deliver subsea support on a campaign for the Flyndre development located in the south-eastern part of the Central Graben Basin.
But the ship owner Harkand Group is in talks with lenders this week to secure its long-term future.
On Tuesday the firm’s creditors terminated the charters of the two diver support vessels (DSVs) after the bonds were found to be in default.
However, Nordic Trustee, acting as a bond trustee for a bond issued by Harkand Finance, gave the firm a stay of execution saying it had “for now not declared the bonds to be due for immediate payment”.
Last month Harkand revealed it would default on a payment due on a $230million (£157.5million) bond it took out in 2014 to finance the acquisition of the two DSVs.
John Reed, chief executive of Harkand said: “Market conditions within the global oil and gas industry remain extremely challenging.
“Harkand is taking proactive steps to secure its financial position in order to emerge from the downturn with a robust global business.
“We are working closely with our investors and financial institutions in order to provide a sustainable platform from which to develop the company and continue with our strategic growth plans.”
A Maersk Oil spokesperson said: “We are confident that the schedule for the Flyndre development will be maintained.”
The Aberdeen office of the inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) company was to oversee the mobilisation of the Harkand Atlantis and Harkand Da Vinci.
Harkand has cuts its headcount in the past 12 months with the 30 onshore full time positions cut in Europe and 38 full time positions lost globally.
The company, formed in 2013, was created by the merger of Aberdeen-based firm Integrated Subsea Services (ISS) and Iremis Offshore, of the United Arab Emirates. It is headquartered in London, with operations bases in Aberdeen, Houston, Mexico, Nigeria and Ghana.