Chapter 913: Is there anyone eager to jump into the pit?

It is Zhuoer Company, the world's second largest offshore oil/gas drilling equipment operating company.

It is considered a top giant in the marine oil and gas field, especially in the cold marine oil and gas field.

If they can really win this huge order of $14 billion from the other party, it will be huge good news for the Hudong Shipyard, which is a newcomer in this field, and even for the entire Chinese shipbuilding industry.

But the problem is that this Zhuoer Group is definitely not a pushover.

Their classic tactic is to first place several orders with huge total amounts through several different subsidiaries, and then use this as bargaining chips to demand a reduction in the down payment ratio.

When the orders are almost completed, some of them are suddenly cancelled due to bankruptcy protection or other reasons.

The final stage of completion of such a huge order is when Party B's capital chain is at its most fragile. If it suddenly loses a large order, it will basically fall into difficulties, or even go directly into insolvency.

The delivery of the portion that has not been cancelled will also be delayed.

This resulted in a high penalty for breach of contract.

For Party B, the only way out is to sell the products that were about to be completed but for which the order was cancelled at a low price.

But the problem is that the application scope of marine oil and gas equipment suitable for cold waters is extremely narrow. After going around in circles, it is almost impossible to avoid Zhuoer Company.

At this time, their other subsidiary will take the order at an ultra-low price, thus killing two birds with one stone.

If you take into account the penalty mentioned above, you can often get a batch of equipment for free.

Even the shipyards have to pay for it themselves.

As for what you said about submitting to arbitration?

nonexistent.

The contract will stipulate that dispute arbitration will be conducted in the buyer's country, that is, Norway.

The result... no need to think about it.

“The final right of interpretation of legal provisions lies with me” Do you understand?

In short, almost all of the world's top marine equipment manufacturers have been cheated by them.

In the past, large shipbuilding and offshore engineering companies were driven directly into bankruptcy by this combination of punches.

If it weren't for the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission's guarantee, I'm afraid the company would have continued to acquire assets at low prices and then carry out restructuring.

Chang Haonan quickly turned the page to the back of the document in his hand, and sure enough, he saw the clause in the inconspicuous notes that said "If a dispute arises, the arbitration shall be conducted in Party A's country."

Then there's nothing to worry about.

At this time, Li Zhongyi, who was standing next to him, saw Chang Haonan stop and immediately spoke up:

"Comrade Haonan, this... you have to give the Hudong Factory a suitable reason, right?"

Nowadays, the country is not particularly wary of these Western companies. It can only be said that the brainwashing effect of the spirit of contract is still quite strong.

But then again, it's only 2001, and it's still a long way from the large ship and offshore engineering incident, so Chang Haonan can't use the Qing Dynasty sword to kill the Ming Dynasty officials.

Fortunately, Xizhuoer has a bad record even in Europe, so it is not difficult to find some strong arguments:

"The party behind this contract is Zhuoer, the Norwegian company that cheated the Black Sea Shipyard into dismantling the Ulyanovsk through contract fraud a few years ago."

"Old Wu told me about this before. He said their boss is called John Fredericksen, known as the Norwegian shipping king. He made his fortune by this method."

"So, although it's not that you can't do business with Xizhuoer, you have to be extremely careful. For example, in this contract, there is only a 10% advance payment, and if a dispute arises, it has to be handled in Party A's country. It's obvious that they are here to take advantage of us."

This explanation highlights the difference between truth and falsehood.

Wu Yifan did talk to Chang Haonan about the Ulyanovsk, but as to whether Frederickson was mentioned in the conversation...

I'm afraid even the former himself has forgotten it.

But what Chang Haonan said was absolutely true.

So, it was natural to convince Ding Gaoheng and Li Zhongyi.

Of course, a major reason for this is the foresight that Chang Haonan has shown in the past.

If someone else were here, even if they said the same thing, it might not be so easy.

……

After being interrupted by this incident, Chang Haonan realized that he had been staying in the new laboratory outside the Fifth Ring Road all this time.

Although that place was put into use ahead of schedule, it had not yet been officially registered, so the contact information written to the outside and several administrative staff of the laboratory were actually still at the old campus of Beijing Aviation University.

It is indeed not easy to find others if you don’t understand the situation.

Thinking of this, Chang Haonan did not go home immediately after leaving the Science and Technology Commission, but made a special trip back to school.

As a result, as soon as I arrived at the office door, I ran into Wang Jie who was hurriedly running up the stairs.

"Professor Chang..."

Wang Jie's breathing was very rapid and his face and head were covered with sweat. It was obvious that he came in a hurry.

"Wang Jie?"

Chang Haonan opened the office door and motioned for the other party to follow him in:

"Didn't I tell you that you can take a half-month holiday in late August and return to work in September? Why did you come to school?"

As he spoke, he turned on the air conditioner and took out a bottle of water from the cardboard box next to him and handed it to Wang Jie.

In theory, graduate students should have a summer vacation of about one and a half months.

Although most PhDs don't enjoy this.

However, Chang Haonan is not so rude, and he is also worried that his students are too tense, so he will let them take a vacation of half a month to one month depending on the situation.

"Teacher Liu and Teacher Lei have an urgent report to submit to you. I happened to be on vacation, so I brought it here."

Wang Jie, who had finally caught his breath, took out a file bag from his schoolbag.

However, it is different from the common file bags.

The opening is not tied with a rope, but a seal.

Of course, it does not have any legal confidentiality effect, but it just has a similar function to sealing wax, letting the recipient know that "this thing has not been opened."

“Is there someone who wants to order eight LNG ships from Hudong Shipyard?”

Chang Haonan naturally thought that Liu Fangping and Lei Zhixing also wanted to talk about this matter.

Although the timeliness is a bit poor, considering that it was sent from Shanghai to Beijing by human courier, the time is not too outrageous.

However, Wang Jie hesitated when faced with this question:

"Uh……"

"Yes, but not completely."

"Anyway, please open it and take a look. The situation is a bit complicated and it's hard to explain it in a few words..."

Chang Haonan stood up, took out a letter opener from the pen holder, and cut open the seal on the bag.

Inside was a printed document.

The article is not long, only about less than 10 pages.

So it didn't take Chang Haonan long to finish reading it.

"so……"

He showed an indescribable expression:

"Based on GTT's attitude, you speculate that Samsung Offshore & Marine may want to compete with us for this LNG ship order?"

In 2001, South Korea was actually a new player in the high-end marine equipment market and had little experience like China.

Therefore, it is normal to covet this billion-dollar order.

"Yes."

Wang Jie nodded and explained:

"In the past two months, several people in the GTT delegation stationed at Hudong Factory have been trying to get closer to us and the comrades from Hudong Factory, intentionally or unintentionally, and then asked about some things that have nothing to do with the liquid cargo tank system, so we paid some attention."

"Later, we and our colleagues in the factory security department discovered that one or two of them may have been bribed by Samsung Offshore & Marine Engineering of South Korea, but there is no direct evidence yet."

"hiss……"

Chang Haonan touched his chin and did not answer immediately.

Commercial espionage is not quite the same as military espionage.

Most of the cases are borderline cases.

After all, when others cooperate with you, a lot of business secrets will be involved in the process.

Therefore, in practice, it is difficult to convict even if the evidence is conclusive.

Unless someone climbs through the window to open the safe in the middle of the night and gets caught red-handed.

Since there is no direct evidence at the moment, there is certainly no way to expel or arrest the other party through official means.

If GTT is asked to change players rashly, not to mention that the other party may not agree, even if the change is made, it will hardly have a fundamental effect.

Instead, we have lost this definite goal.

So, after thinking for a while, Chang Haonan had no choice but to remind:

"Have the security department in Shanghai keep a close eye on it. Of course, more importantly, you should be more vigilant and pay attention to confidentiality regulations."

Anyway, China is not prepared to take on this risky order. If Samsung Marine is willing to be a sucker, he will not stop it.

However, Wang Jie's frown did not relax:

"Actually, Mr. Chang... I'm not worried about the business issues at the Hudong Factory."

"How to say?"

Chang Haonan raised his head with some curiosity.

"You think..."

Wang Jie hesitated for a moment, but continued:

“Will Samsung Offshore be interested in our BOG reliquefaction technology?”