Skipsteknisk was recently awarded the design contracts for 4 newbuildings by China Oilfield Services Limited(COSL), and consider these contracts as a breakthrough in the Chinese Offshore market. Skipsteknisk started to work on the Chinese market in 2007 and signed the first contract for design of a large seismic research vessel of ST-327L design with COSL in 2008. The ship was built at Shanghai Shipyard and delivered in 2011.
In 2010 Skipsteknisk opened a Sales and Representative office in Shanghai and by that increased the company’s effort to enter the Chinese market. Already in 2011 this resulted in a contract with China Offshore Oil & Engineering Company Ltd.(COOEC), for design of a large construction vessel of ST-263 design. This vessel is now under construction in China and scheduled for delivery in 2014.
The seismic vessel delivered in 2011 named COSL 720 has proven to be very successful and in March this year a contract for a second vessel of same design was signed with COSL. The construction of this vessel has already started, also at Shanghai Shipyard and delivery is to take place next year.
And so, this month Skipsteknisk signed contracts for another 4 newbuildings, also with COSL. The contracts includes 2 offshore construction vessels of ST-259 design with length of 125 m, 1 seismic research vessel of ST-318 design with length of 80 m, and 1 seismic source vessel of ST-315 design with length of 65 m. The contracts includes project development, conceptual and basic design. Detailed design and construction of the vessels will take place in China.
With the latest contracts in place, Skipsteknisk has signed contracts for 7 specialized offshore vessels for Chinese clients in total, where contracts for 5 vessels have been signed this year. This we feel confirms that our efforts on the Chinese market has been successful. China Oilfield Services Ltd. is a daughter company of China National Offshore Oil Corporation and has become an important Client for Skipsteknisk. COSL is one of the key players in the Chinese offshore market and the cooperation between our companies has been very good, not at least due to our presence in Shanghai. Skipsteknisk will continue it’s operation in China and with the new contracts confirmed we expect increased interest for our ST-designs.
[mappress] Press Release, June 24, 2013