Keppel secures tug orders

Keppel Nantong Shipyard Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (Keppel O&M), secured three contracts worth approximately $75.3 million, including owner-furnished equipment, to build eight tugs.

The first contract is with Smit Internationale Beheer B.V. to build two 90-tonne bollard pull offshore support tugs. These tugs will have anchor handling, dive support and fire fighting capabilities. Delivery of the vessels is expected in the first half of 2010 and they will be deployed off West Africa.

The second and third contracts were awarded by Keppel Smit Towage Pte Ltd. and Maju Maritime Pte Ltd. Each contract is for the construction of three 65-tonne bollard pull twin-screw azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugs based on the MTD 3265ST design, developed by Keppel O&M’s technology unit, Marine Technology Development. The vessels are expected to be delivered progressively during 2011.

Both Keppel Smit Towage and Maju Maritime are 51/49 joint ventures of Keppel O&M and Smit Internationale N.V., respectively.

Lee Tai Kwee, President of Keppel Nantong, said, ???With the eight new vessels, Keppel Nantong has an order book of 26 vessels currently under construction on our 16 hectare site. We are glad that our customers have confidence in the capability of this new yard which is just under two years old.?? The shipyard is located along the Chang Jiang River about 110 kilometers (68 miles) northwest of Shanghai, China.