| Award 1226

Award 1226 – Shipbuilding contract for a catamaran for service in offshore windfarms – Construction delayed – Instalment not paid – Exi s tence of cont ract (yes ) – Customer’s breach (yes) – Damages (no). The delay in building a catamaran destined for service in offshore windfarms was caused by a need for feedback of experience from a first catamaran delivered by the same shipyard but this had not been subject to a written agreement. The defendant customer did not pay the third instalment because the metallic hull was not finished but did not repudiate the contract despite the permissible delays stipulated in it were exceeded long since. The shipyard having given evidence of the completion of the hull and this fact having been admitted by the defendant, the arbitral Tribunal judged that the parties were still bound by the contract and that the defendant should pay the outstanding instalment. However, by virtue of the same contractual terms, the hull remained the property of the shipyard. The Tribunal rejected the shipyard’s claim for damages concerning operating expenses and decided to share equally the arbitration costs.