Judy Maksoud , Houston
Keppel rakes in the projects
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. won several conversion contracts in April. Prosafe SE subsidiary Production Services Pte. Ltd. contracted Keppel to convert the 276,000 dwt VLCC M/TNavarin to a gas FPSO in Singapore.
Sevan Production AS contracted Keppel Verolme BV in the Netherlands to outfit the company’s second FPSO, theSevan Hummingbird. Keppel secured additional contracts for FPSO conversion with SBM Holdings Inc. SA and Emas Offshore Construction and Production Pte. Ltd. Keppel Shipyard Pte. Ltd.
Keppel Singmarine, meanwhile, will build an anchor handling tug, scheduled for delivery in 4Q 2009, for Middle East-based Seaways International.
Other work includes a contract from Petrobras, awarded to Keppel FELS Brasil SA, to repair and upgrade theBGL 1, a 122-m (400-ft) derrick lay barge. The barge is to be completed by May 2008.
Keppel Nantong Shipyard, meanwhile, received an order to build three 65-ton bollard pull twin-screw azimuth stern drive tugboats from Keppel Smit Towage Pte. Ltd. The vessels are expected to be delivered between 3Q 2009 and 1Q 2010.
In early June, Keppel FELS Ltd. secured two rig contracts amounting to $534 million.
The contracts are for the construction of a drilling-cum-production jackup rig and a deepwater drilling tender rig. Both rigs will be built to Keppel’s proprietary design.
The jackup contract is the third KFELS N Class jackup rig for Skeie Drilling and Production, a member of the Skeie Group. Keppel expects to deliver the new rig in 4Q 2010.
The second contract is from repeat customer Seadrill Asia Ltd. for a semisubmersible drilling tender (SSDT), slated for delivery at the end of 2009. The SSDT will be built to Keppel FELS’ proprietary design, KFELS SSDT 3600E.
Seadrill Asia’s parent company, Seadrill Ltd., also has ordered four jackup rigs from Keppel FELS, of which three are under construction.
Hornbeck expands MPSV program
Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. has expanded its multi-purpose supply vessel (MPSV) program to include a 430-ft (131-m) new generation DP-3 MPSV to be constructed at a European shipyard with an anticipated 3Q 2009 delivery.
The new vessel will be included in the company’s MPSV program, which consists of two US-flagged coastwise sulfur tankers that are being converted into 370-ft (113-m) new generation DP-2 MPSVs.
Hornbeck has an exclusive four-year option to build two additional sister vessels based on the same DP-3 MPSV design.
COSCO builds barge
In mid-May, COSCO Corp. (Singapore) Ltd.’s 51%-owned COSCO Shipyard Group secured an engineering, procurement, and construction contract from Belgium’s Exmar NV to build an accommodation barge valued at $38.2 million. The new barge, to be classed by the American Bureau of Shipping, will have accommodations for 360. It will be deployed offshore West Africa.
Under the agreement, Exmar has secured the option for one additional barge. Delivery is expected in 3Q 2008.
COSCO also has secured five semisubmersible heavy lift vessel (HLV) conversion contracts from Norway’s Front Line. The yard will convert five suezmax tankers into semisubmersible LVs. These conversion contracts will be undertaken at COSCO’s Zhoushan, Guangzhou, and Nantong shipyards.
Maersk gets new jackup
Maersk Contractors named its latest newbuild drilling rig from Jurong Shipyard Pte. Ltd. on Saturday, May 12. The new rig was officially named theMaersk Completer at a ceremony in Singapore.
The rig was the first delivery in a newbuilding program of nine high-capacity drilling rigs that will be added to the Maersk fleet over the next three years.
TheMaersk Completer’s first assignment is a one-year drilling contract with Total E&P Borneo offshore Brunei.
Oceanteam orders construction support vessel
Oceanteam Power & Umbilical ASA signed a deal with Bourbon Offshore for a new construction support vessel to be jointly owned by Oceanteam Power & Umbilical ASA and Bourbon Offshore Norway AS, through a single purpose company to be known as Oceanteam Bourbon 2 AS. Metalships and Docks of Vigo, Spain, will build the vessel, which is to be delivered in early 2010 and will be namedBourbon Oceanteam 104.
Oceanteam is already building three large construction support/power cable lay vessels in Vigo. TheBourbon Oceanteam 101 will be delivered in September of this year.
Pride Mexico to work off Brazil
In June, Petrobras contracted with Pride International Inc. for a five-year contract for thePride Mexico semisubmersible. The contract is expected to begin in 2Q 2008, following an estimated 270-day shipyard program and subsequent mobilization from the US Gulf of Mexico.
ThePride Mexico is a conventionally moored semi equipped to operate in water depths to 1,100 ft (325 m). The rig recently completed a three-year contract offshore Mexico. It will remain in a shipyard in Galveston, Texas, for the next few months where it will undergo a previously planned regulatory survey and maintenance.
Upgrade work includes increasing the rig’s water depth capability to 2,300 ft (701 m) and modifications to the mooring system and crew quarters.
In May, Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. subsidiary AmFELS Inc. delivered Scorpion Offshore Ltd.’s first jackup drilling rig. The ultra premium drilling rig,Offshore Courageous, is the first of five jackups being built by Keppel AmFELS for Scorpion Offshore. The other four rigs are Offshore Defender, Offshore Resolute, Offshore Vigilant, and Offshore Intrepid. All five rigs will be built to the LeTourneau Super 116 design. Upon completion, the rigs can be deployed for international operations as well as deep gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the company says.
