Keppel opens China yard
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. opened the Keppel Nantong Shipyard Co. Ltd. in Nantong, Jiangsu province, China, on Aug. 2.
The ceremony was marked by the sale of two 45-metric-ton (49.6-ton) azimuth stern drive tugboats to Arabian Gulf Mechanical Services & Contracting of Kuwait.
The ceremony also celebrated the keel laying of two anchor-handling tug and supply (AHTS) vessels for Whitesea Shipping & Supply Llc., based in the United Arab Emirates, and a harbor tugboat for Singapore-based Keppel Smit Towage Pte. Ltd.
These vessels are among the 18 offshore support vessels and tugboats under construction at Keppel Nantong, which has the capacity to build up to 25 such vessels on its 16-hectare (39.5-acre) site.
“The addition of this Nantong facility has increased Keppel’s newbuilding capacity in meeting the growing demand for specialized vessels to serve the offshore field development market, and growth in LNG terminals and maritime ports,” says Choo Chiau Beng, chairman and CEO of Keppel O&M. “China is attractive as a cost-efficient and competitive shipbuilding center. We intend to increase our investment in Nantong and optimize Keppel Nantong’s facilities to take on more and higher value projects.”
Keppel Nantong Shipyard lies along the Yangtze River near the supporting industries in the municipality of Nantong, 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Shanghai.
New JV to build jackups
In June, UMW Oil & Gas and Norway’s Standard Drilling Far East Pte. Ltd. formed a 51:49 joint venture to build two jackup rigs for the Southeast Asian market.
The company unveiled theNaga 2 jackup at the 11th Asian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Engineering Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur.
Naga 2 is designed to operation in 350 ft (107 m) water depth and will be able to drill to 30,000 ft (9,144 m), UMW says.
Delivery of the first jackup is scheduled for 3Q 2008. The second rig is to be delivered in 2Q 2009.
Heavy-lift vessels for BigLift
In late 2Q 2007, BigLift Shipping contracted the Laursen & Toubro shipyard in Hazira, India, for two newbuild multi-purpose, heavy-lift 1A Finnish ice-class vessels. Delivery is set for end-2009 to early 2010, and will bring the company’s fleet to 15 vessels.
The newbulds will be 154.8 m (507.87 ft) long, with a beam of 26.5 m (86.94 ft), a scantling draft of 9.5 m (31.17 ft), and a deadweight of 18,680 metric tons (20,591 tons). The vessels will be equipped with two Huisman mast cranes, each with a lift capacity of 900 metric tons (992 tons).
The vessels will have hydraulically operated upper deck hatch covers, pontoon tweendeck covers at adjustable heights, and two trolley cranes with 37.5-metric-ton (41.34-ton) lift capacity. BigLift says the vessels will be able to handle tall, heavy lifts such as cranes and offshore modules, and will be able to sail with the upper deck covers totally or partly open.
Havila to build PSV
Norway’s Havila Shipping ASA entered into a mid-year contract with Solstrand Verft for a newbuild platform supply vessel (PSV).
The DP-2 vessel has a length of 80.4 m (284 ft) and a breadth of 17.6 m (58 ft).
Havila Shipping developed the vessel,Havyard 832 CD, in cooperation with Havyard Maritime.
Delivery is scheduled for the summer of 2009.
Rigdon marine expands PSV fleet
Rigdon Marine Corp. has reached two milestones in its Rigdon 4000 Class PSV construction program with theFirst and Ten, delivered in late July 2007, and the Double Eagle, which entered service in late September.
The remaining eight Rigdon 4000 class PSVs will be delivered in approximate 45-day intervals during 2007 and through 3Q 2008.
Keppel secures work across the board
In early July, Keppel FELS Ltd. delivered a KFELS B Class design jackup drilling rig to Seadrill Management AS.
The rig, namedWest Prospero, was the second KFELS B Class rig delivered to Seadrill. The first rig, West Ceres, was delivered in April 2006. A third jackup, West Atlas, was delivered to Seadrill in late September.
Keppel FELS Ltd. delivered theWest Atlas, the yard’s third KFELS B Class design jackup drilling rig, to Seadrill Management AS in late September.
Late in July, Keppel Singmarine Pte. Ltd. secured four contracts worth $230 million to build six offshore support vessels and a derrick pipelay vessel.
Delivery dates for the vessels are expected between the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010.
This order marked Keppel Singmarine’s first derrick pipelay vessel. It is being built for new customer, Global Offshore International Ltd.
A second contract secured in July was for another first-time customer, Greatship Global Offshore Services Pte. Ltd., for the construction of two 94-m (308-ft), 4,600-dwt PSVs. The vessels will be equipped with diesel electric propulsion and DP-2 dynamic positioning systems.
Keppel signed a third contract in July with repeat customer Hadi H. Al-Hamman Establishment to build two 60-metric ton (66-ton) bollard-pull AHTSs with DP-2 dynamic positioning systems for the Middle East.
A fourth contract for July was signed with LukOil-Kaliningradmorneft, which contracted Keppel Singmarine to build two ice-class multi-purpose standby and rescue vessels for the Caspian Sea.
