In September, an arbitration court rejected Northern Drilling's demands to recover millions it paid for two canceled rigs. The conflict was between the company and Hanwha Ocean Shipyard, formerly Daewoo.
As a result, Northern Drilling's shares fell 85 percent on the day the ruling was announced, September 26.
A little more than a month later, in October, the drilling company announced that it would ask the court to allow it to appeal the decision.
It is normal to do so, as there are limited opportunities to appeal arbitration. Meanwhile, Northern Drilling confirmed that it did not consider such a statement necessary to challenge the award, due to “serious irregularities.”
Had Northern Drilling been successful in its appeal, there would have eventually been a hearing.
But on Good Friday, the company reported that its appeal of decisions on legal points had been rejected. The company's requests to appeal the decisions were also rejected on the grounds of serious violations.
It is reported that Northern Drilling will now evaluate the ruling.
Loss of nearly two billion
The drilling company, in which John Frederiksen owns 40.63 percent of the shares, took legal action against the South Korean shipyard after a delay in the construction of the two ultra-deepwater drillships, West Aquila and West Libra.
The request was for Northern Drilling to pay a total of $180 million – nearly two billion kroner – plus interest and compensation for the delay.
However, the arbitration court rejected the claim, and now the appeal has also been rejected.
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