Keppel Delivers 2 Offshore Support Vessels to GulfMark, Lukoil

Keppel Singmarine has delivered an Anchor Handling Tug/Supply (AHTS), Sea Comanche, to GulfMark Offshore, Inc. (GulfMark) and a Multi-purpose Duty Rescue Vessel, LANGEPAS to LUKOIL-Kaliningradmorneft (LUKOIL) respectively.

"At Keppel Singmarine, we tailor-make quality solutions for our customers, giving them added advantage and flexibility to meet the operational requirement anywhere in the world. We are very grateful that our valued customers such as GulfMark and LUKOIL have entrusted us time and again with the construction of their premium offshore support vessels," Hoe Eng Hock, Executive Director of Keppel Singmarine said.

“The growing market acceptance of our in-house ship designs attests to Keppel's proven capabilities as a Builder of Distinction for highly-specialized offshore vessels. Looking ahead, we will continue to fortify our core competencies to offer innovative solutions that will fulfil the needs of the global offshore and marine industry," Hoe added.

Designed by Marine Technology Development (MTD), the ship design and development arm of Keppel O&M, Sea Comanche, the last of a series of six AHTS vessels was delivered to GulfMark. Built by Keppel Singmarine’s sister yard, Keppel Nantong in China, it was presented a US $10,000 bonus for achieving a clean safety record of zero lost-time incident.

The vessel was named on July 25, 2009 by Lady Sponsor, Evelyn J Ford, spouse of Brian R. Ford, a director on the board of GulfMark. She will be deployed in Southeast Asia, and is capable of performing anchor handling and fire fighting among other support functions.

Gene Leech, Executive Vice-President of GulfMark Offshore said, "During the past four years, we have developed a close working relationship with Keppel Singmarine. The company has proven itself over the years as a reliable and strong partner to GulfMark."

Meanwhile, Keppel Singmarine has also delivered the sixth ice-classed vessel LANGEPAS to LUKOIL since 2003. The 60-tonne bollard pull vessel will be deployed in the Caspian Sea region to perform supply duty and rescue operations in temperatures as low as -20 degrees C and ice thickness of up to 70 cm.

Named by Lady Sponsor, Lidiya Zarichanskaya, wife of Captain Petr Zarichanskiy, at Keppel Singmarine on July 29, 2009, LANGEPAS was jointly designed by MTD in collaboration with Robert Allan. Keppel Singmarine was awarded a US $5,000 safety bonus for achieving zero lost-time incident.

Victor Velikov, Deputy General-Director of LUKOIL said, "We are very pleased with the early delivery of our latest vessel, LANGEPAS. Through our many projects together, Keppel Singmarine has proven its strong capabilities and versatility in building robust vessels of high quality for a variety of challenging environments and operating requirements."

In the past four years, LUKOIL has entrusted Keppel Singmarine with several specialized shipbuilding projects such as Asia's first icebreakers, two ice-class Anchor Handling Tug/Supply vessels and a Floating Storage and Offloading vessel, which is being completed by sister yard, Caspian Shipyard Company in the Caspian Sea.


 


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