In what may turn out to be the biggest cruise story of the year, reports in Europe indicate the contract has been canceled for the first F3 ship for Norwegian Cruise Line.

However, no announcement has been forthcoming from Star Cruises, NCL, or the shipyard.

In response to a question from Cruise Week, NCL Corporation issued the following statement: "NCL Corporation Ltd., in response to reports that one of its subsidiaries may be involved in a contractual dispute with Aker Yards S.A. of  France regarding a shipbuilding contract, will not comment on commercial or legal disputes."

Given the tenor of that comment, don't be surprised if there are messy lawsuits ahead and no new NCL ships.

Initially, the F3 ships order was for Star Cruises. But then it was announced the two 150,000-ton ships, with a third as an option, would be used for NCL. Sources say initial costs were about $735 million Euros (close to $1 billion) per ship, and costs have since increased.

Earlier, NCL announced that the option for the third ship would not be used.

The First F3 ship was due for delivery in March 2010. Aker Yards builds several key ships for Royal Caribbean and MSC, both of whom would emerge as likely contenders to assume the F3 tonnage.