New Build Drill Ship 'Stena Carron' Joins UK Flag

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

The UK Ship Register continues to grow with an increase of just over 1 million gross tonnes (GT) and 56 ships since the beginning of 2008. The latest addition to the UK Flag is the Stena Carron, a new build oil drilling ship of 58,294 GT, which flagged-in on September 5, 2008.

The ship is managed by Stena Drilling Limited and brings the number of drilling vessels operated by them on the UK Flag to four, totalling 143,856 GT.

Stena Drilling is based in Aberdeen and is one of the worlds foremost independent drilling contractors, managing a global business with a record of successful operation in the North Sea, the US Gulf of Mexico, South East Asia, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, North Africa, West Africa and Australia.

The MCA Aberdeen Marine Office, based in the energy capital of Europe, is at the centre of the global offshore market, which is expanding geographically and technically into areas unimagined even 20 years ago.

In the last two years staff from the MCAs Aberdeen marine office has been involved with 40 new ships for the UK Flag, ranging from deep water drill ships, dive support/well service ships, platform/field support ships, anchor handlers and standby ships. This includes a new-build series of 14 ships for North Star Shipping Limited, a 15 ship new-build series for Vroon Offshore Services Limited and a 7 ship new-build programme for Gulf Offshore Services Limited.

The growth of the offshore shipping industry has resulted in a record number of orders being placed with shipyards worldwide up until 2012 and there is potential for more new tonnage for the UK Ship Register from both new-builds and flag-ins.

The Register now stands at an impressive 14.96m GT and 1,537 ships -- the largest the Register has been in recent history.
 


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