Judy Maksoud • Houston
AmFels delivers jackup
AmFels, the US subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine, recently delivered an ultra-premium KFELS jackup to Mexican owner, Perforadora Central SA de CV.
The Tonala is contracted to work for Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in the Bay of Campeche.
The Tonala is the fourth KFELS B Class design to enter the market since 2000, when the design was introduced. This generation of jackups is designed with a single-stage pre-load feature that reduces on-site elevation and pre-loading time.
Diamond upgrades semis
Diamond Offshore awarded Keppel Offshore & Marine a contract for two upgrades following upgrade work on the Ocean Rover and Ocean Baroness last year.
The Ocean America semisubmersible underwent stability upgrading and decommissioning of its tail shafts in the KFELS drydock. Delivery was scheduled for May 2004.
Diamond's Ocean Winner underwent a fast-track upgrade at BrasFELS in Brazil. The 50-day upgrade was concluded earlier this year. The semi is now chartered to Petrobras.
Complete upgrade for Stena Dee
Stena Drilling UK Ltd. took its Stena Dee semisubmersible out of action in January 2004 to carry out an extensive upgrade.
The vessel is scheduled to undergo a complete upgrade to the Norwegian Standard. The scope of work covers increasing the deckload and accommodation capacity, installing four new stability columns, replacing eight bracing sections, and increasing wall thickness from 16 mm to 35 mm.
ASRY keeps busy
The ASRY yard has had an active 2004. According to the company, the pace of work this year is up 10% over last year, with 49 vessels being repaired and painted.
According to ASRY's num- bers, international sales were up by 55%, with 23 vessels being repaired. Arab markets accounted for an additional 26 vessels.
Much of the work at the yard has targeted ultra-large crude carriers, but there has reportedly been recent interest in rig repair.
New semi for Petrobras
In late May, a FELS Setal/Technip consortium secured a notice of award to build the P-51 semisubmersible for Petrobras.
null
The rig is to be completed in 47 months and deployed in the Marlim Sul oil field.
FELS Setal's work will be divided among Keppel FELS Singapore, Nuclep a state-owned company in Brazil, and FELS Setal. Detailed engineering and construction of the corner nodes of the lower hull will be carried out by Keppel FELS in Singapore. A part of the lower hull will be subcontracted to the Nuclep yard. And FELS Setal will fabricate the rest of the lower hull, deckbox, topsides, accommodations, and modules and will also handle commissioning and pre-operations start-up.
Technip is responsible for overall engineering and detailed engineering of the deckbox and offshore mating and transportation.
The semi is a 41,000-tonne unit capable of producing 180,000 b/d of oil and 6 MMcm/d of natural gas. It will be installed in 1,255 m of water 175 km from the coast and is scheduled to begin production in 1Q 2008. ;
Pride International's newbuild semisubmersible Pride Portland was recently completed in Portland Harbor. Cianbro, one of the largest construction companies on the East Coast, was awarded the contract to build and assemble the Pride Portland and Pride Rio de Janeiro semisubmersible drill rigs in 2002.
The Pride Rio de Janeiro left the Cianbro yard in early March to undergo sea trials in the Caribbean Sea. Following initial trials, the rig headed further south for drilling sea trials offshore Brazil, where it is waiting to go contract.
Both semis are dynamically positioned with a depth capability of 1,700 m of water.
Bollinger Shipyards Inc. recently upgraded the 40-year-old oceangoing tug Guardian for Louisiana's Velvet Maritime LLC.
The vessel is 150 ft long with a draft of 17 ft and a beam of 35 ft. The engine foundations have been modified to accommodate two new Caterpillar 3606 diesels delivering a combined 4,640 hp. Steering rudders, bulwarks, and rub rails were cropped in the process of upgrading, and sections of the port and starboard ballasts were renewed. Upgrade work was also carried out on the stuffing boxes, steering rudder trunks, rudder linkages, box vents, stern fuel vents, exhaust system, bilge, ballast and fire systems, anchor chain, and locker and deck boards.
