US shipyard sued for delays in delivery of subsea rock installation vessel

Houston-based marine projects company Great Lakes Dredge and Dock (GLDD) has filed a lawsuit against Philly Shipyard of Pennsylvania for what GLDD claims are multiple delays in the construction and delivery of a new subsea rock installation vessel that will support offshore wind construction activities.

GLDD has asked the US Eastern District court to grant restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, saying that the multiple delays in the ship's delivery date had caused significant losses to the company.

GLDD had awarded a US$197 million contract to Philly Shipyard for the construction of the subsea rock installation vessel. The contract also includes an option for a second vessel.

Upon completion, the vessel will be able to accommodate up to 45 crewmembers and can carry 20,000 tonnes of rock to be sunk onto the seabed. This will then serve serve as a foundation for the laying of monopiles of offshore wind turbines.

Court documents show that GLDD emphasised the importance of time in the selection of a shipyard that will build the vessel. The company said Philly Shipyard initially proposed an "unacceptable" construction cycle when bidding for the project, though it later revised the schedule, resulting in a shipbuilding contract in November 2021 and a delivery date of November 15, 2024.

According to GLDD, Philly Shipyard still failed to meet its construction obligations and proposed several new schedules, delaying the delivery of the vessel by up to 593 days.

Between August and October 2024, the shipyard changed the delivery schedule repeatedly, initially proposing October 30, 2025, and more recently September 30, 2026 as the new delivery date, GLDD said.

GLDD has accused Philly Shipyard of sacrificing project schedules and exacerbating delays by prioritising other projects. The company has therefore asked the court to block the shipyard's plan to move the unfinished installation vessel to the outfitting dock in order to free up the facility for the construction of another vessel.

GLDD said it had explicitly rejected the plan as the installation vessel was not yet ready to be launched, and therefore, moving it would further delay its completion.

GLDD also asked the court to order Philly Shipyard to cease transferring resources to other projects and to require the yard to "develop and maintain a fully resource-loaded and logic-linked schedule" to comply with the shipbuilding contract.

Philly Shipyard has meanwhile issued a brief statement via a stock exchange filing acknowledging that GLDD had filed a lawsuit against the yard. Philly Shipyard said it "is still continuing to build the vessel," while also building three US Maritime Administration training vessels and a new containership.