Sweden’s Court of Appeal has rejected a challenge to the procurement of a new state-owned icebreaker and upheld the contract award to Hyundai Heavy Industries.

The Swedish Maritime Administration awarded the contract to Hyundai Heavy Industries in June last year for the construction of Sweden’s next icebreaker. Finland’s Helsinki Shipyard, which finished second in the tender, challenged the decision and pointed to alleged irregularities in the process.

The case first went before an administrative court, which supported the award decision. Helsinki Shipyard then appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeal in Jönköping, arguing that the reference vessels submitted by Hyundai Heavy Industries did not meet the requirements set by the Swedish Maritime Administration. In a judgment issued last week, the appeals court upheld the procurement decision.

Following the ruling, Helsinki Shipyard said it was deeply disappointed not to have been selected, but acknowledged the court’s decision.

The tender required bidders to submit three separate reference vessels to demonstrate their technical capability to deliver an icebreaker. For the first requirement, shipyards had to show they had built a vessel in Polar Class 1 to 6, or an equivalent class, delivered in 2012 or later. Hyundai Heavy Industries cited the New Zealand Navy replenishment ship HMNZS Aotearoa, delivered in 2020, and said the vessel had a polar class equivalent to PC 6. Helsinki Shipyard questioned that classification, saying it could not be verified in ship registers because the vessel had been in military service.