Keppel and Floatel sign contract for a fourth accommodation unit

Yard News - August 22, 2012

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) and Floatel International Ltd (Floatel) have finalised a contract for Keppel FELS to build a new generation harsh environment accommodation semisubmersible (semi) worth US$315 million.

This follows the Letter of Intent announced by Keppel and Floatel earlier in March this year.

This will be Floatel's fourth accommodation semi with Keppel FELS after the delivery of Floatel Superior and Floatel Reliance in 2010 and the order of Floatel Victory in 2011, which is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2013.

With delivery in early 2015, the new semi will be built to the Floatel Superior design, a DSSTM 20NS design developed by GustoMSC and Keppel FELS' Deepwater Technology Group.

Equipped with Dynamic Positioning (DP) 3 capability, it will meet the most stringent rules and regulations for worldwide operations including the Norwegian Sector.

Well equipped with a host of modern facilities, the semi will have a large payload and deck area in combination with dual cranes, making it ideal for construction support during new construction, maintenance activities or for decommissioning projects of offshore oil and gas installations.

It will be able to accommodate 440 persons in single bed cabins with ample recreation areas as well as office amenities.

The two Floatel rigs delivered in 2010, Floatel Superior and Floatel Reliance, have been chartered to Statoil in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea and to Petrobras in Brazil's Campos Basin respectively.

Floatel Victory has secured a charter with Chevron USA for its Jack St Malo field and with BP Exploration Operating Company for the Clair Ridge Development project on the UK Continental Shelf.