Keppel Shipyard lands another FPSO contract

Written by Marine Log Staff
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Armada Sterling under conversion at Keppel Shipyard

AUGUST 11, 2015—Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M)’s wholly owned subsidiary Keppel Shipyard Ltd has secured a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) conversion contract as well as three repair, upgrade and modification contracts worth a total of about S$125 million ($89.36 million).

The FPSO conversion project Keppel Shipyard will be for Armada Madura EPC Limited, a joint venture between long-standing customer Bumi Armada Berhad and Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

According to Michael Chia, Managing Director, Marine & Technology, Keppel O&M, the conversion is the third carried out by the shipyard for the joint venture. “We are confident that this FPSO,” says Chia, “will be as successful as our first two FPSOs, Armada Sterling and Armada Sterling II, which have been performing excellently at the D1 field and Cluster 7 field in India respectively. This also marks our thirteenth conversion/upgrading project for Bumi Armada.”

Chia points out that FPSOs are “the preferred product for deepwater production and we are pleased that our customized FPSOs have proven to be efficient solutions for our customers. We will continue to work with our partners to provide more value-added and cost-efficient solutions to meet their needs.”

Work has already started on the FPSO conversion, which is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2016. Upon completion, the FPSO will produce for the Madura Strait Block BD which is located 65km east of Surabaya and about 16km south of Madura Island, Indonesia.

LNG conversion for U.S. customer

Separately, Keppel Shipyard has been awarded major repair, upgrade and modification contracts by Totem Ocean Trailer Express Inc., Dolphin Drilling Limited, and Saipem Offshore Norway AS. Dolphin Drilling and Totem Ocean are new customers to Keppel Shipyard, while Saipem Offshore is a returning customer.

“Despite the headwinds faced by the industry due to the current low oil price environment, Keppel Shipyard continues to receive active enquiries for its wide range of expertise including repair works and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) solutions,” says Chia. “By leveraging our strong track record in repair, upgrade and modification, as well as expanding on our LNG capabilities which include extensive experience in LNG carrier repairs and Floating Storage Regasification Unit conversions, we are able to continue attracting new customers while maintaining the trust of repeat customers to keep our yards busy.”

Keppel Shipyard’s contract with Totem Ocean is for the world’s first conversion of a large roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel to operate on a dual-fuel diesel LNG propulsion system. The work scope is a complex undertaking of the replacement of four engines, adding 2,200m3 of LNG capacity along with the addition of 47km of new cabling.

When the conversion is completed, the vessel, Midnight Sun, will produce less greenhouse gas emissions, reducing emissions of particulate matter by 91 percent, NOx by 100 percent, SOx by 90 percent and CO2 by 35 percent. 

Keppel Shipyard’s work for a drillship of Dolphin Drilling, Belford Dolphin, includes renewal survey and modification, while for its project with repeat customer Saipem Offshore, Keppel Shipyard will undertake major refurbishment and upgrading works that include installation of a new 750-tonne Abandon & Recovery winch and additional thruster, as well as living quarters extension for a Field Development Ship.

 

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