Keppel Offshore & Marine’s subsidiary Keppel FELS shipyard has secured a $85m contract from Crystal Heights Holdings to build a high-specification liftboat.
Liftboats are used to support offshore platforms in construction, accommodation and well intervention, as well as maintenance and installation.
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Design of the new liftboat is done by Keppel O&M’s liftboat design specialist, Bennett Offshore, in collaboration with Keppel FELS.
The liftboat is scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter 2017, and will have provisions enabling it to operate in China, the Middle East and the Gulf of Mexico.
Keppel O&M (Offshore) and Keppel FELS managing director Wong Kok Seng said: "This latest contract from Crystal Heights is the second liftboat based on Keppel’s innovative proprietary solution that Keppel has been contracted to build within a year.
"We have leveraged our jackup rig technologies and expertise to develop our own series of liftboat designs that is able to value add to the industry.
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By GlobalData"For instance, it will have a higher freeboard for safer operations and retractable spud cans flushed to the bottom of the rig’s hull, which reduces drag when transiting between locations."
Keppel’s self-elevating and self-propelled liftboat design is capable of operating at a water depth of up to 60m.
The new liftboat will be equipped with a 280t deck crane, which will allow it to undertake the maintenance of most shallow water oil and gas fields and wind farms, as well as several workover drilling operations and well intervention applications.
The new vessel meets the latest IMO requirements, and will feature large open deck space for cargo storage and have the capacity to carry 200 people.
Crystal Heights director Kenny Cai said: "Despite the current low oil price environment, there are a large number of offshore platforms in the world that require more efficient and cost-effective solutions such as the use of a dedicated liftboat for their maintenance, upgrading, as well as removal.
"Besides being utilised in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa, they are also increasingly being employed by key operators in China, the Middle East and South East Asia.
"Building our first liftboat with a reputable shipyard will enable us to establish an early foothold in the market, especially in the Asian region, which currently has the least number of liftboats available per platform."
The new vessel is also equipped with Keppel’s patented jacking system designed by subsidiary Offshore Technology Development.
In addition, Keppel’s joint venture shipyard in Qatar, Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM), is building a similar vessel for a Qatari oilfield service company.
