South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Tuesday that it has been countersued by Japanese oil and developer INPEX after it filed a complaint against INPEX for not paying the rest of contract amount in April. 

The $480 million countersuit will not hurt the earnings of Samsung as it set up allowances for the countersuit till the first quarter of 2021, the shipbuilder said in a regulatory filing. 

Samsung completed the installation of central processing facility, one of the offshore plants, in the seas off the coast of Australia in 2019, seven years after it won an order for it from INPEX.

After the installation, Samsung asked the Japanese company to pay for the rest of the contract amount worth $116 million.

But INPEX turned down the demand, saying the delayed working period of the facility caused its work on the seas to be delayed. 

Samsung on April 30 lodged a complaint with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre against the Japanese firm seeking payment for the rest of the contract amount. 

Samsung will actively respond to the countersuit by forming a group of experts, the company said in a separate statement. (Yonhap)