Samsung Heavy says $3.54 billion icebreaker orders from Russia's Zvezda cancelled
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 18, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 18, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Samsung Heavy cancels $3.54B icebreaker orders from Zvezda due to illegal termination, filing arbitration in Singapore.
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries said on Wednesday that two orders from Russia's Zvezda worth a total of 4.85 trillion won ($3.54 billion) for icebreaker ships were cancelled due to "illegal termination by the shipowner".
Samsung Heavy said in regulatory filings that in June 2024, Zvezda shipyard unilaterally informed the South Korean company of the contract termination and insisted on the return of advance payments.
In July, Samsung filed an arbitration request with the Singapore arbitration court to affirm the illegality of the termination, while engaging in negotiations with Zvezda.
However, as the war between Russia and Ukraine dragged on, uncertainties over contract execution and business increased, and Samsung Heavy decided to terminate the contract and claim damages to protect its rights, it said.
The orders were to supply parts and blocks for 10 icebreaker LNG carriers and 7 icebreaker shuttle tankers, won in 2020 and 2021.
($1 = 1,370.3800 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Saad Sayeed)
The cancelled icebreaker orders from Zvezda were worth a total of 4.85 trillion won, approximately $3.54 billion.
Samsung Heavy decided to terminate the contract due to increased uncertainties over contract execution and business as the war between Russia and Ukraine continued.
Samsung Heavy filed an arbitration request with the Singapore arbitration court to affirm the illegality of the contract termination.
The orders included parts and blocks for 10 icebreaker LNG carriers and 7 icebreaker shuttle tankers.
Zvezda shipyard unilaterally informed Samsung Heavy of the contract termination in June 2024.
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