ST Marine books AHTS order from Swire Pacific

Singapore Technologies Engineering announced today that its ST Marine unit has won a shipbuilding contract worth about S$171million (about US$ 179 million) from Swire Pacific Offshore Operations (Pte) Ltd (Swire Pacific Offshore), a wholly owned subsidiary of Swire Pacific Limited.

The contract covers the building and outfitting of four anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels. Swire Pacific Offshore will furnish the major equipment for ST Marine’s installation, including main engines, thrusters, switchboard and automation, cranes, A-frame, stern rollers and deck machinery. Work beginss immediately with the first AHTS, measuring 92 m by 22 m, expected to be delivered by the first half of 2013 and the fourth by the first half of2014.

The four vessels will be able to support the latest generation of deepwater harsh environment semi-submersible offshore drilling rigs. They will also have adequate tank capacities and clear deck space of about 650 sq.m for other offshore applications. The vessels will adopt the latest dynamic positioning technology and will be Special Purpose Ship 2008 compliant.

In March this year, ST Marine successfully delivered Pacific Finder, a 68 m Seismic Survey Vessel to Swire Pacific Offshore. The vessel is successfully deployed for marine seismic survey in shallow waters for oil and gas clients in the Asia Pacific region.

Swire Pacific Offshore owns and operates 77 offshore support vessels, with a further 17 new vessels on order for delivery throughout 2011 and 2014. Its fleet has an average age profile of less than 9 years. It operates vessels in every major oil exploration region outside of North America.

“Swire Pacific Offshore is committed to owning and operating a modern fleet of offshore support vessels. The recent order with ST Marine is testament to our commitment for quality, reliability and environmentally friendly fuel efficiently designed vessels. ST Marine is our shipyard of choice for these new building orders based upon their previous performance, commitment and dependability to deliver on time. We are very pleased to be working with the ST Marine team,” said Brian Townsley, Managing Director, Swire Pacific Offshore

“We are delighted and honored to be entrusted with this opportunity to work with Swire Pacific Offshore again. Swire, one of the world’s largest owners and operators of offshore support vessels, is a forward-looking and very professional company and we are thankful for the role to enhance and grow their fleet to support their customers in the burgeoning offshore oil and gas industry. This contract is not only a testament to ST Marine’s capability as a shipbuilder of choice but an affirmation that our partnership with Swire Pacific Offshore is growing from strength to strength,” said Ng Sing Chan, President, ST Marine

This contract is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets per share and earnings per share of ST Engineering for the current financial year.

June 15, 2011