Aker Kvaerner wins DDS for Gulf

Chevron, with partner Kerr-McGee, has awarded Aker Kvaerner, Inc. the semi submersible hull and mooring system contract for their Blind Faith project in the Gulf of Mexico. The contract has a total value of approximately $120 million. Aker Kvaerner’s scope of work includes engineering, procurement, construction and transportation.

The Blind Faith platform to be located in the Mississippi Canyon 650 block, approximately 162 miles southeast of New Orleans is part of the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico in 6,500 feet water depth. This contract award follows more than one year of concept studies, pre-FEED (front-end engineering design) studies and a FEED study for the Blind Faith project by Aker Kvaerner’s Deepwater Business unit.

This development will utilize Aker Kvaerner’s Deep Draft Semi submersible (DDS) concept which has been conceived specifically for the application of steel catenary risers in the ultra-deepwater and current-heavy Gulf of Mexico environment. The DDS represents an evolution of the Aker Kvaerner semi submersible lineage. The Blind Faith semi submersible will be delivered using several Aker Kvaerner entities such as Aker Kvaerner, Inc., Aker Kvaerner Verdal, Aker Kvaerner Engineering & Technology and Aker Marine Contractors. The execution phase of the project will be initiated immediately with Aker Kvaerner to deliver the DDS hull to a Gulf of Mexico integration yard in June 2007.