Judy Maksoud, Houston
Aker Yards has busy 1Q
In late 1Q, Aker Yards contracted with Aker Oilfield Services to build four large well intervention/construction vessels. The contract also contains an option for another two vessels.
The vessels are of the Aker OSCV 06 WI design type developed for Aker Oilfield Services on the basis of the OSCV 06 design that has been adapted for well intervention purposes.
The vessels will be 157 m (515 ft) long with a beam of 27 m (88.6 ft) and will be equipped with an active heave compensated crane, ROV, launching systems, and a derrick for well intervention purposes. The newbuilds will be DP-3 ice class vessels with a maximum speed of 18 knots.
Delivery of the first vessel is scheduled for spring 2010. The following vessels will be delivered at approximately six-month intervals from Aker Yards’ sites in Norway.
At the same time, the yard won a contract from DOF ASA to build two anchor-handling tug/supply (AHTS) vessels, with an option to build another two vessels.
The vessels are being built based on the AH 04 Aker design.
The AHTS vessel hulls will be built at Aker Yards, Tulcea, in Romania and outfitted at Aker Yards in Norway.
Delivery of the first two vessels is scheduled in Q4 2009 and Q2 2010.
The yard also signed a contract with GDV Shipping AS in Arendal, Norway, to deliver one Aker PSV/ROV 06CD platform supply vessel.
The hull for the vessel will be built in Romania and outfitted in Norway. Vessel delivery is scheduled for 4Q 2009.
The contract also includes an option for a similar vessel for delivery in 2Q 2010.
ASL adds to its order book
Singapore-based ASL Marine Holdings Ltd. has won $108 million worth of contracts to build six offshore support service boats and a heavy lift pipelay vessel.
ASL says the six support vessels are for repeat customers in Europe, while the heavy lift pipelay vessel is for a customer in India.
The vessels are due for delivery by 2009.
ASL also secured a $76.6-million contract to build six AHTSs.
Four of the five units are to be completed in 2009, with the final AHTS delivery scheduled for early 2010.
By mid-April, ASL had accumulated an aggregate $185 million in shipbuilding contracts since the beginning of the year.
SembCorp gets jackup order
In March, Norway’s Awilco Offshore ASA exercised an option with SembCorp Marine’s PPL yard in Singapore to build a $149-million Baker Marine Pacific Class jackup. The new rig,WilConfidence, will have 114 m (375 ft) working depth capability and will be able to drill to 9,144 m (30,000 ft).
PPL plans to begin work on the rig in 2Q 2007. Delivery is expected by 2Q 2009. This jackup rig is the last of the four options that PPL Shipyard granted to Awilco in 2005.
The rig will be equipped with a drilling package to drill high-pressure/high-temperature wells.
Craig group launches PSV
The Craig Group’s North Star Shipping division launched its biggest platform supply vessel (PSV) to date in April.
Spain’s Astillerios Balenciaga SA built theGrampian Talisman PSV, which was designed by IMT. The vessel measures 78.2 m (256.5 ft) in length with a 17-m (56-ft) beam. The PSV will have 740 sq m (7,965 sq ft) of deck space and will be capable of meeting the requirements of a 300 class emergency response and rescue vessel.
TheGrampian Talisman is the ninth vessel the group has ordered from Balenciaga in five years, the company says.
DPS wins generic FPSO process module bid
Nortechs FPSO Pte. Ltd. has awarded process system integrator DPS (Bristol) Ltd. a contract to design and supply the process module for theEast Fortune generic FPSO.
Nortechs plans to build three FPSOs that will be ready for production from 3Q 2007 and 3Q 2008. Each vessel will be equipped with generic process plants designed to cater for a broad range of process requirements. TheEast Fortune is the first of these units. It will have 30,000 b/d production capacity with the option to increase its capability to 50,000 b/d if required. The process module also offers three-stage separation, produced water treatment, and chemical injection systems.
Keppel FELS delivers rigs, takes orders for Ensco
In late 1Q, Keppel FELS Ltd. delivered theEnsco 108, its ninth jackup rig for Ensco International Inc. Delivery was made on schedule, within budget, and with zero lost time incidents, Keppel says.
TheEnsco 108 was built to Keppel’s proprietary KFELS B Class jackup design. The rig left the yard in April en route to her maiden assignment for BP offshore Indonesia.
Keppel FELS Ltd. delivered theEnsco 108 in late 1Q 2007.
Ensco also is adding ultra deepwater semisubmersible drilling rigs to its fleet. Three of the semis are on order at the Keppel FELS shipyard.
Ensco is investing more than a $1 billion in the three rigs. TheEnsco 8500 is scheduled for delivery in 2Q 2008, and the Ensco 8501 will be delivered in 2Q 2009. Both rigs are being built against firm multi-customer long term drilling contracts. The third Ensco 8500 Series rig, Ensco 8502, is scheduled for delivery in late 2009.
MMHE holds naming ceremony for Kikeh FPSO
Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering (MMHE) Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of MISC Bhd., completed construction of its first deepwater FPSO at its yard in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia, in 1Q 2007.
Converted from a very large crude carrier, theKikeh FPSO is the biggest vessel of this type to be built in Malaysia and has the largest external turret ever built for any FPSO worldwide, MMHE says. The vessel has 2 MMbbl storage capacity and will be able to process 120,000 b/d of oil, with an offloading rate of 37,500 bbl/hr. The FPSO will be moored on the Kikeh field in 1,320 m (4,331 ft) water depth 120 km (75 mi) northwest of Labuan Island. Kikeh is Malaysia’s first deepwater discovery and the first field outside the Gulf of Mexico to be produced using a spar.
MMHE held a naming ceremony for theKikeh FPSO on March 30, 2007.
To mark the completion of the FPSO, a naming ceremony was held at the MMHE yard on March 30, 2007.
The vessel is owned and operated by Malaysian Deepwater Terminal Ltd., a joint venture between MISC and Single Buoy Moorings.Kikeh will be leased to Murphy Sabah Oil Co. Ltd. for an initial period of eight years with options for five three-year follow-on extensions.
It is scheduled to begin operations by the middle of this year.
Edison Chouest expands fleet
Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) plans to build several new AHTSs and more than a dozen 85-m (280-ft) PSVs at its affiliated shipyards in the US. The vessels are scheduled to join the ECO domestic fleet within the next three years.
The new orders include seven ATHSs. Two are (106-m) 348-ft, 21,000-hp new generation vessels. The other five units will be 88-m (288-ft), 16,000-hp vessels. The PSV fleet will expand by 14 units, all of them 4,700-dwt PSVs. The vessels are scheduled for delivery between February 2007 and mid-2010.
All of the vessels will be built at ECO affiliated shipyards: North American Shipbuilding in Larose, Louisiana; North American Fabricators in Houma, Louisiana; and Gulfship in Gulfport, Mississippi.
New JV for UAE
KS Energy Services Ltd. is leading a new joint venture in the United Arab Emirates to build a $148-million Friede & Goldman Super M2 design jackup rig.
KS Energy is taking a 50% majority stake in the new partnership. Saudi private equity company Amwal Al Khaleej Investment Co. will have a 40% stake, and Sharjah-based Maritime Industrial Services Co. Ltd. (MIS) will have a 10% share.
MIS will build the rig at its fabrication and shipyard facility in Sharjah and will deliver it in 30 months for the Middle East market.
The partnership offers the opportunity for KS Energy to venture into the Middle East, which is investing more than $1 trillion on infrastructure and development, KS Energy says.
Norway’s Prosafe Production Pte. Ltd. is working on three FPSO projects. In the first two months of 2007, the company christened two FPSOs, which will be converted at Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard starting in July of this year.
One of the vessels is scheduled for the Mateus field in the Espírito Santo basin offshore Brazil. A letter of intent has been signed for the second FPSO to work offshore West Africa.
Engineering work is under way on the third FPSO, for which a contract is being negotiated for a major Asia-Pacific field, Prosafe says.
According to Prosafe, Asia is one of the main markets for the company.
Prosafe christened theUmuroa FPSO on Feb. 15 at Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard. The Umuroa will work in the Tui field offshore New Zealand.
ThePolvo FPSO will work in the Polvo field in the Campos basin offshore Brazil, where production is expected to begin in mid-2007.
