Scandlines, the Danish-German ferry company controlled by the London based private equity investor 3i, and STX Finland, which is part of the STX Europe group, have stopped the clocks to finalise a contract regarding the construction of two ferries.

"The company has actively held talks with the customer and a number of financial institutions," STX Finland said in a statement. "A final contract between STX Finland and Scandlines has not been signed by the deadline, because talks concerning financing have not progressed at the way the company had hoped for," said the shipbuilder, whose parent company is owned STX Offshore & Shipbuilding in South Korea.

"STX Finland continues efforts to find a solution. However, it has been decided to halt preparations on the project and a new decision will be made the resume the project," said Jari Anttila, Deputy Managing Director of STX Finland, in the statement.

The two companies signed an initial contract regarding the construction of the two ships in early July. The order could be significant for the shipbuilder that is suffering from low workloads. It has two 99,300 gross ton cruise liners on order from TUI Cruises in Hamburg. Rumours suggest the company might place an order for a third ship, but TUI Cruises says it does does not comment on rumours.