STX lays keel of pipe layer

South Korea’s STX Group embarked on its first offshore plant construction when it recently held a keel laying ceremony for an offshore pipe layer at its Chinese subsidiary STX Dalian Shipbuilding complex.

The 194 m long pipe laying vessel had been ordered by France’s engineering firm Technip for around $200m in October 2007. At the ceremony, a 1,000 tonne vessel block was moved onto an offshore plant building facility and the newbuilding is scheduled for delivery in 2010.

STX has also secured offshore plant newbuilding orders last year including four drillships and one floating storage unit worth $1.2bn in total. The company plans to win high value-added specialized vessel orders in the second half through forming partnership with resource-rich countries in the Middle East, South America and Africa.