My autobiography cannot be a tragedy

the next morning.

Zhongtian Law Firm.

"In recent years, due to the weakening momentum of the global economic recovery, trade and friction between the major countries of the East and the West have intensified.

The superimposition of the global economic crisis, the OPEC production reduction agreement, and the shipping sulfur limit have made the growth of international seaborne trade sluggish, and the crude oil trade volume has been bleak.

This has led to the bottom of the oil shipping market, the freight rate has been in a downturn for a long time, and the price of new ships has continued to fall.

In this general environment, the performance of global shipping companies has been greatly affected, and a large number of shipbuilding orders have been canceled.

Among them is the Norwegian ship king-John Frederickson.

The international crude oil transportation company 'Searill' under his name is the plaintiff in this lawsuit against our client company 'Bencheng Shipyard'. "

In front of the projector, Director Zheng introduced the case to Lin Haitang and other lawyers in the conference room with a solemn face.

"Bincheng Shipyard was established in 2006 and is a holding subsidiary under the name of the entrusting party 'Bincheng Shipbuilding Industry Group'.

Among them, Bincheng Heavy Industry holds 51% of the shares, and Samoa's Shengmao Investment holds 49% of the shares, which are joint ventures.

In 2013, Bincheng Shipyard and Searill signed eight VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) shipbuilding contracts with a displacement of more than 8 tons, with a total contract price of up to 30 billion RMB.

In order to deliver this huge order on time, Bincheng Shipyard almost used all the shipbuilding stations to complete the shipbuilding task with all its strength.

As of the end of 2017, the shipyard has paid a total of about 40 billion yuan in advance for shipbuilding, of which 6 tankers under construction are nearing completion and will soon enter the delivery stage.

It was also at this time that Searill began to cancel shipbuilding orders around the world due to poor performance and falling prices of new ships. "

Director Zheng opened the next ppt.

"The problem is the way they cancel the order.

Searill first announced without warning that it unconditionally canceled the order of 6 VLCCs that were about to be completed, which dealt a heavy blow to Bincheng Shipyard.

However, due to the contract, Bincheng Shipyard can only grit its teeth and continue to complete the remaining two orders.

At the beginning of this year, Searill once again proposed to cancel the order of the seventh VLCC.

Bincheng Shipyard finally abandoned the fantasy, decided to suspend the cooperation with the other party to stop the loss in time, and voluntarily requested to cancel the eighth VLCC.

I thought this negotiation could be reached, but I didn't expect that the other party would firmly disagree with the cancellation.

In desperation, Bincheng Shipyard could only continue to build at a loss.

Not long ago, Searill, which had made a solemn promise never to cancel the order for the eighth ship, went back on its word again.

What is even more unexpected is that Searill not only canceled all the orders, but also sued the Bencheng Shipyard for failing to deliver the ship on time, demanding the return of 10% of the deposit and payment of relevant interest..."

"This is too shameless!" A male lawyer present finally couldn't help but cursed.

As a native of Hua, none of the lawyers present felt annoyed when they heard that their company was being played by foreign companies one after another.

It’s a good shipbuilding order. After working hard for 5 years, not only can’t get the final payment, but even the deposit is likely to be withdrawn. This is completely lost!
What's even more exasperating is that the other party obviously intentionally manipulated the mentality of Bincheng Shipyard by repeatedly canceling the order, in order to make them voluntarily breach the contract and take back the 10% deposit.

Faced with such extreme tension, Bincheng Shipyard is undoubtedly caught in a dilemma.

Continue to make it, who will sell it to?It is likely that losses will increase further.

If you don't make it, then you will follow the people's wishes, and even the deposit will be withdrawn...

"This kind of dishonorable behavior of maliciously creating commercial traps is indeed shameless, but the problem is that subjective judgments cannot determine objective facts.

The crux of the matter is... Everything in commercial conduct must be based on contracts.

Although the other party's approach is unethical, it has to be said that each step accurately utilizes the terms of the contract signed by both parties. "

Director Zheng said helplessly.

At this time, a middle-aged man with square-frame glasses spoke bitterly.

"Hey! Yes, if you want to blame, you can only blame us when we signed the contract, we were eager for success and failed to carefully assess the potential risks of this cooperation... This is all our fault..."

The person who spoke was in his fifties, but his hair was already half white, and he looked haggard and old that didn't fit his age.

He was Feng Liang, the deputy director of Bincheng Shipyard, who came here specially to assist the law firm in sorting out the case this time.

"Director Feng, don't blame yourself too much, after all, you didn't sign this contract." Director Zheng comforted.

"Although I didn't sign it, our entire management is responsible for the current situation!
Thinking that the thousands of employees in the company can't even pay their salaries, we are ashamed! "

Lin Haitang looked at the deputy factory director who was blaming himself, and asked with some doubts.

"Director Feng, I have checked the information, and as far as I know, the general payment process of a shipyard is roughly divided into five nodes-contract entry into force, start of construction, boarding the berth, undocking, and delivery of the ship.

Normally, the buyer will give a 20% advance payment at each link.

Why did the shipyard only charge 10% of the deposit when the contract was signed, and even the remaining [-]% of the final payment was paid in one lump sum when the ship was delivered? This seems unreasonable. "

Everyone present also nodded, after all, no matter how you look at it, this kind of contract is simply an overlord clause for the seller.

The construction period of a VLCC is at least two or three years. During such a long period of time, no one knows whether there will be sudden changes. The shipyard will undoubtedly bear huge risks.

There are even conspiracy theorists, who began to murmur in their hearts. Could it be that some decision makers are picking up the inside and outside?
Feng Liang smiled wryly upon hearing this.

"It's normal that you don't know the inside story. In fact, this kind of contract was not uncommon in the industry under the general environment at that time."

He sighed.

"After the economic crisis in 08, the consequences of overcapacity began to appear, and the shipbuilding industry was one of the hardest hit areas!

Coupled with the sluggish global ship market brought about by the economic crisis, my country's shipbuilding industry is generally hard to find a single order.

But without orders, how can we feed so many employees?

So after the whole industry fell into a downturn, the buyer began to occupy an absolute dominant position in the ship transaction.

The terms of payment you just mentioned were not available to us under the circumstances at the time.

In order to compete for international orders, we first pay 10% of the advance payment, and then we will advance the production with a bank loan, and then the remaining 90% of the final payment can only be obtained when the ship is delivered.

This was a common practice in the industry at the time.

Due to the harsh external environment, domestic shipbuilding companies even had a business where the advance payment was only 1%.

Our Lilan is so low that it is close to the cost price.

But even if we are losing money and making money, we have to grit our teeth and accept orders. After all, survival is our top priority.

At this time, if there is a company willing to give you a large order of 60 billion, and even allow you to earn about 10% of Lilan, can you resist the temptation?
Even if it was me back then, I'm afraid I would have gritted my teeth and signed the contract..."

It turned out to be like this...

"Everyone, to tell you the truth, due to the large amount of construction funds paid in advance, our liquidity has long been exhausted, and we are carrying a huge debt of more than 20 billion.

If this lawsuit is lost again, it will be even worse, and I am afraid that there is only one way to go bankrupt.

Director Zheng, everyone, for the thousands of employees in the factory, as well as their children and parents...

Everything... just please everyone! "

Factory Manager Feng bowed slightly to the crowd with a tired face.

It seems that the spine is bent by reality...