The major conflicts over the Femern construction are no longer just something that plays out in internal status reports and in the contractual dialogue between the client and the contractor. They now also appear in the latest briefing from the Minister of Transport, Thomas Danielsen (V), to the Parliamentary Transport Committee, where it is described that Femern A/S is negotiating with the main contractor Femern Link Contractors (FLC) about both an updated schedule and handling of financial claims raised by the contractor.
In the briefing, the minister points out that the negotiations are about a number of challenges and risks, and that the claims are partly related to the quality of the tunnel trench and the conditions in the German environmental approval, which in some respects differ from what was assumed in the tender.
It is precisely the tunnel trench that in recent months has developed into one of the most sensitive points of contention in the project. According to internal papers, which FemernBusiness has previously described, the client and contractor disagree on whether the trench can be used in its current form at all. FLC believes that it requires major repairs, while Femern A/S has maintained that only minor adjustments are needed.
The critical path
The briefing states that Femern A/S and FLC are negotiating an updated immersion programme, which must both implement the conditions in the German authority approval and address the need for laying extra gravel in the tunnel trench, because the contractor consortium Femern Belt Contractors (FBC) has dug especially the coastal areas a little deeper than was assumed in the contract.
At the same time, the minister describes that the submersion of the tunnel elements is the critical path for the project, and that the first submersion is awaiting the readiness of the specially built vessel Ivy. According to the construction status, the vessel is more than a year and a half delayed and the main reason for the realised delays to date. According to the briefing, FLC expects to have the necessary approvals by the end of 2025.
Earliest 2031
The briefing also outlines the framework behind the discussion on how quickly the project can be completed at all. In the original main schedule, the contractor assumed 36 months for the submersion of the elements and then about 30 months for technical installations and testing before the tunnel can be opened for traffic. It is not directly stated in the briefing, but the calculation points to an opening at least 5.5 years after the first submersion. If it happens at the start of 2026, this gives an opening in the summer of 2031.
The construction status contains no assessment of the size of the financial claims mentioned. FemernBusiness revealed in October that FLC had made a claim of 14.5 billion kroner against the Danish state due to the delays caused by the German environmental requirements. The environmental requirements were not known when the contract was signed and have made the work in the Fehmarn Belt more difficult than initially assumed.
The Ministry of Transport simultaneously writes that an increase in costs is to be expected, which will extend the repayment period, but it is still expected to remain within the framework assumed at the adoption of the construction act.
