Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd has rejected claims that three liquified natural gas storage tanks it built for Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) have leaks, saying they met with Taiwanese specifications.
In a written statement faxed to the Taipei Times, Mitsubishi Heavy said "... the tanks have been constructed completely in accordance with the contract and all applicable Taiwan laws."
While Mitsubishi Heavy has already transported the three refrigerated storage tanks to Taiwan, each of which can hold 130,000 kiloliters of liquified natural gas, the state-run Chinese Petroleum has refused to take official delivery of them saying they detected leaks that pose a serious safety hazard.
Mitsubishi Heavy maintains that the tanks are sound, saying in the statement that "The tanks were inspected, approved and legally verified as reliable and safe by the Taiwanese authorities as well as by independent third parties."
The statement did not identify which Taiwanese authority or "independent third parties" verified the integrity of the tanks.
An executive at Chinese Petroleum yesterday doubted the claim saying that no government agency had approved the tanks and that the Cabinet-level Council of Labor Affairs had in fact ruled them unsafe due to leaks.
Chinese Petroleum maintains the tanks leak and in January last year filed a civil suit with the Taipei District Court seeking compensation of NT$12.8 billion for "business losses" and for Mitsubishi Heavy to repair the tanks, an executive at the company said.
"We still hold NT$4.5 billion in unpaid final payments and security deposits," the executive said, adding that Chinese Petroleum will hang on to the cash until Mitsubishi Heavy repairs the tanks.
As for the final word on the leaks, the executive said that "the court will determine whether the tanks" meet the safety specifications.
The ongoing dispute has aroused tempers at Chinese Petroleum, with chairman Chen Chao-wei (
Chen had previously suggested wrongdoing by Mitsubishi Heavy and called for the Japanese firm to be barred from participating in public works projects in Taiwan.
Mitsubishi Heavy countered in its statement saying it "... denies any wrongdoing in connection with this matter and believes that there is no reason for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to be excluded from bidding on any future projects in Taiwan."
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