McDermott acquires former Ceona flag ship

Amazon (ex Ceona Amazon)

FEBRUARY 21, 2017 — McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) has emerged as the new owner of the former flagship of the now defunct U.K. SURF and heavy subsea construction contractor Ceona. When news of Ceona’s liquidation broke in September 2014, we reported “a priority will be to find a buyer for its flagship Ceona Amazon, delivered by shipbuilder Lloyd Werft, Bremerhaven, in 2014 and hailed as a game-changing deepwater subsea-tie-back and field development asset.”

Today, McDermott announced that it had “acquired the newly built pipelay and construction vessel Amazon to better position the company for ultradeepwater and SURF projects.”

“This is a great opportunity for the company to expand the technical capabilities of our global fleet and grow in the deepwater and SURF markets and greatly increase our ultradeepwater project coverage,” said David Dickson, President and Chief Executive Officer of McDermott. “Due to current market conditions and the opportunistic nature of the transaction, we were able to acquire what is essentially a new, enabling asset at a fraction of the original build cost.”

Funding for the vessel acquisition has been secured through a sale and leaseback arrangement under which McDermott has control of the vessel in exchange for a daily charter-hire rate. The planned upgrade to the state-of-the-art J-lay system and related financing are expected to be considered in line with market conditions.

The sale and leaseback agreement has been made with Oslo, Norway, based  specialty finance company Offshore Merchant Partners and Stamford, CT, based Northern Shipping Funds, which describes itself as a leading alternative capital provider to the shipping and offshore oil service industries.

McDermott plans to upgrade the vessel for the ultradeepwater market with a state-of-the-art J-lay system outfitted with the latest vessel technology. In the near term, McDermott plans to make minor capital expenditure investments to bring the vessel up to company standards.

As it finalizes its upgrade plans, McDermott plans to use the vessel on existing construction and pipelay projects.

The Amazon is equipped with 49,514 square feet (4,600 square meters) of deck space complete with two 440-ton (400-tonne) cranes, a service speed of 12 knots and accommodations for up to 200 crew and service staff.