A year after a shipbuilding contract dispute emerged between Otto Marine unit Otto Offshore and GC Rieber Shipping ASA, a settlement has been reached. Otto Marine announced that it has entered into a 'mutually beneficial global settlement' with GC Rieber, which includes settling the claims from last year and terminating the joint venture agreement for Polar Marine II Pte Ltd - the firm that is 49 per cent owned by Otto Marine and 51 per cent owned by GC Rieber. The joint venture included four vessels and as part of the settlement, Otto Offshore will take over three of them while GC Rieber will take over the remaining one. Of the three vessels, Otto Offshore had chartered out one and also announced yesterday that it had agreed to sell another one for 24.1 million euros (S$43.8 million).
