COVINGTON, Louisiana -- Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. has expanded its multi-purpose supply vessel (MPSV) program to include a 430-ft new generation DP3 MPSV to be constructed at a European shipyard with an anticipated 3Q 2009 delivery.
This 8,000-dwt vessel will be equipped with two cranes, a helideck, a moonpool, and accommodations for 100. The primary crane will have lifting capacity of up to 400 tons to a water depth of 10,000 ft. The secondary crane will provide significant additional lifting capacity, Hornbeck says. This MPSV will be able to operate globally; however, Hornbeck plans to deploy the vessel in its primary operating market, the deepwater and ultra deepwater Gulf of Mexico. While this foreign-built vessel cannot qualify for Jones Act trade, Hornbeck intends to have the vessel carry a US flag, which offers certain strategic benefits to the company and its GoM customers.
The new DP3 vessel will be included in the company's MPSV program, which consists of two US-flagged coastwise sulfur tankers that are being converted into 370-ft. new generation DP2 MPSVs.
Hornbeck Offshore also has an exclusive four-year option to build two additional sister vessels based on the same DP3 MPSV design at a US shipyard of its choice that would qualify for domestic coastwise trade under the Jones Act.
"In May 2005, we launched a highly innovative MPSV program to address an emerging trend in customer demand for larger, more versatile vessels capable of meeting the evolving needs of the exploration, development, and production lifecycle of deepwater and ultra deepwater fields from cradle to grave. We believe that the worldwide demand for highly specialized equipment like our MPSVs is rapidly expanding and is currently being serviced by a relatively few foreign flagged vessels. For this reason, we believe that the high-end ultra deepwater MPSV niche is still undersupplied and that more of such vessels are required for the post-2009 market, particularly in the GoM," says Todd Hornbeck, the Hornbeck's chairman, president and CEO.
"These new vessels are designed to handle a variety of deepwater and ultra deepwater oilfield applications, many of which are not levered to the exploratory rig count. Given current market demand visibility through at least 2011 and the level of customer inquiries for this type of equipment, we believe that we will be able to secure a multi-year term contract for this new DP3 vessel at day rates commensurate with our historical capital investment parameters," Hornbeck says.
5/3/2007
