Sembcorp Marine Ltd, through Jurong Offshore Pte Ltd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, has secured a drillship contract worth US$806.4 million from Sete Brasil Participacǒes S.A. (Sete Brasil), for the design and construction of a drillship based on Jurong Shipyard’s proprietary Jurong Espadon drillship design.
This is the 7th unit of a series of drillships that Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiaries have secured since February 2012. Including the six drillships that were announced on 6 February and 8 August this year, all seven drillships will be built based on the Jurong Espadon design, which represents the next generation of high specification drillships with advanced capabilities for operational efficiency and ultra-deepwater operations worldwide. Each of the drillships will be equipped with state-of-the art drilling facilities, a larger deck area, efficient deck arrangement and a large moon pool for enhanced drilling operations as well as DP-3 (Dynamic Positioning Class 3) capabilities and superior motion. The drillship will be capable of operating at 10,000 ft water depth and drilling to depths of 40,000 ft, with accommodation facilities for a crew of 180 personnel.
The 7th drillship unit is scheduled for delivery no later than the third quarter of 2016. These seven ultra-deepwater drillships, with deliveries ranging from 2Q 2015 to 4Q 2019 will be among the first in a series of drillships to be built in Brazil to cater to the oil and gas discoveries in the offshore giant pre-salt fields of the Santos Basin. On delivery, all seven drillships will be chartered to Petrobras for 15 years.
Mr João Carlos Ferraz, Chief Executive Officer of Sete Brasil said “We are pleased to sign this additional drillship unit with our trusted and proven partner, the Sembcorp Marine Group. All seven high specification drillships will be built based on the same design. Given their established track record working in Brazil, we are confident that all of these high-specification drillships will be delivered on time and meeting our schedule. We are confident that Jurong Shipyard and its parent company in Singapore will make our drillship programme a success in Brazil.”
Mr Wong Weng Sun, President and CEO of Sembcorp Marine said “We are honoured to sign the 7th drillship with our Brazilian partner, Sete Brasil. Including the six units of drillship that were secured earlier, we will be a leading builder in drillships in Brazil. We are proud to be recognised as a strategic partner in Brazil’s pre-salt drillships programme for its deepwater oil fields.”
The contract is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets and earnings per share of Sembcorp Marine for the year ending December 31, 2012.
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Press Release, November 29, 2012; Image: jspl