Following CMC commenting publicly on the availability of the FSRU Etyfa Prometheas in Shanghai and ETYFA’s failure to take delivery, some press reports appeared yesterday (17 May) wrongly pointing a finger at the state of completion of onshore
works at the Vasilikos LNG Facility. CMC now takes this opportunity to clarify briefly the true picture of the Onshore Works.
ETYFA has made excessive and unjustified requests for changes to the design and construction of the onshore parts of the facility, which have caused significant delays and costs.
CMC was awarded the contract for design, construction and operation of the LNG terminal project in December 2019, which included the delivering the onshore pipeline, the underground ‘buffer storage’ needed on such a gas pipeline system, and the
pressure reduction and metering station (PRMS).
However, ETYFA and its consultant Hill repeatedly instructed the Contractor first to deviate from the original agreed technical specification and second to adopt different and conflicting operating parameters.
Many other changes requested by ETYFA to the onshore works include the LNG composition, the valves, the design flowrate, and the control rooms. These changes have resulted in the need for additional engineering, procurement, civil works, and testing, as well as increased the size and complexity of the onshore works overall.
As CMC has said previously: it has done its best to accommodate these many changes but there are time and cost impacts of ETYFA’s decisions which must be recognised.
If ETYFA keeps changing the rules, CMC is entitled to be fairly compensated and not penalised.
CMC notified ETYFA of the potential impacts of these changes and offered various alternative options, with estimated prices for each option. However, ETYFA directed CMC not to claim a variation and refused to pay for the additional work. CMC estimates
that the additional time and costs associated with ETYFA’s instructions amount to millions of Euros.
The state of the onshore works is therefore no answer to CMC’s legitimate concerns and questions over why ETYFA has not taken delivery of the FSRU Vessel (which has been ready since mid-January) nor ETYFA’s persistent non-payment of CMC nor the
myriad other issues placed by ETYFA in CMC’s way in striving to deliver the Project in accordance with the highest standards of quality and safety.
