More problems on s.s. Rotterdam
Imtech, responsible for installing heating, lights and aircondition, has seized all work on the s.s. Rotterdam as per last Tuesday (15 July) due to a conflict about extra work. According to De Rotterdam BV, Imtech is obliged to install all for the contractual sum of 18 million euro, while Imtech claims a new contract has to be made at a higher price, due to the extra demands by the owners. According to De Rotterdam BV, this situation will not cause a delay in the homecoming of the ship, allthough in Rotterdam the renovation will take more time. Woonbron (owner of De Rotterdam BV) bought the ship for 2 million euro from Rotterdam Port Authority and budgetted the complete asbestos removal and renovation could be done at 20 to 40 million euro. They really underestimated the complexibility of the job. An amount between 140 and 200 million euro has been spent so far. They do not expect to make any profits in exploiting the ship. Mr. Kromwijk (manager of Woonbron) said last spring he expected to announce a new partner as co-owner during this summer. It is not clear if the present problems will make this more difficult. = = = = According to the la-*test*-('") news, the s.s. Rotterdam will be towed to Rotterdam during the week of 4 August (all depending on the weather).

Thanks for the update Willem. :-)