Keppel clinches three specialised shipbuilding contracts

The first contract was awarded to Keppel Singmarine by Dutch dredging and marine contractor, Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) for the construction of a 159m long rock dumping fall pipe vessel to be completed in late 2011.

The vessel, to be built by Keppel Singmarine, will have a carrying capacity for 23,000 tonnes of rock. She will be installed with propulsion machinery and special rock handling equipment supplied by Boskalis to carry out precise rock depositing works at water depths of more than 1,000m with DP-2 capabilities. This vessel will also have a flexible fall pipe with a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) installed at the lower end for better positioning. As the vessel moves along her track under dynamic control, the rocks will be lowered through the fall pipe at a controlled rate.

Boskalis currently operates two fall pipe vessels, i.e. Seahorse and Sandpiper. Seahorse can be fitted with an A-frame located on the stern and an ROV-steered clamshell grab, making it possible to dredge down to depths of 1,000m.

In addition to Boskalis’ vessel, Keppel Singmarine has also secured another two tugboat contracts. The first is to build a 65-tonne bollard pull twin-screw azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug with FiFi1 notation for fire-fighting for repeat customer, Smit International. This vessel is based on the proprietary MTD 3265T design developed in-house by Keppel’s Marine Technology Development unit.

The second tug contract involves constructing a 50-tonne bollard pull twin-screw ASD vessel for the Indonesian towage company PT. Pelayaran Trans Parau Sorat.

The tugs are scheduled for completion in the fourth and first quarter of 2010 respectively.