Sembawang wins newbuild and upgrade contracts

The first contract is awarded by Teekay Shipping (Australia) Pty Ltd for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) of a dynamically positioned blue water research vessel for Australia. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world, will operate the vessel on behalf of the Australian Government for use by the Australian marine research community.

Sembawang Shipyard secured this S$123 million ($95.5 million) specialized newbuilding contract based on the shipyard’s capabilities and established track record in the highly specialised and sophisticated sector of niche and customized vessels newbuilding. In particular, dynamically positioned and fit-for-purpose vessels require able design, engineering and project management capabilities, high health, safety and environment (HSE) standards, proven EPCC expertise and strong organisational capabilities.

Upon completion and delivery in the second quarter of 2013, the vessel will be named Investigator and will provide a safe and advanced diverse marine science capability to Australia. She will be based in Hobart, Tasmania and operate from the tropical north to the Antarctic ice-edge and across the Indian, Southern and Pacific oceans.

David Parmeter, managing director of Teekay Shipping (Australia) said “Sembawang Shipyard is our valued partner in Singapore and has strongly supported us throughout the due diligence process to CSIRO. We are confident that our close partnership and collaboration will lead to the timely and safe delivery of the state-of-the-art new research facility to comply with CSIRO’s stringent operating standards for multi-disciplinary research activities at sea.”

Andrew Johnson, group executive – environment, CSIRO said “The award of this contract is an important part of a four-year process by CSIRO through the ‘future research vessel project’ to build a new and highly advanced research vessel. Investigator will significantly boost the oceanographic, geoscientific, fishery, and ecosystem research capability available to Australian marine researchers. The new vessel will deliver benefits to many Australian agencies and underpin science discoveries from Southern Hemisphere marine environments.

We have selected Sembawang Shipyard and Teekay Shipping as the right partners for CSIRO through a rigorous evaluation process and have full confidence that both companies will together deliver our new vessel to our required standards.”

Besides the above newbuilding contract, Sembawang Shipyard was also recently awarded three major upgrading projects with a total contract value of S$92 million ($71.5 million) comprising:

1) an upgrade of a dynamically positioned heavy-lift and pipelay vessel with a lifting capacity of up to 4,400 tonnes from a leading engineering, procurement, construction and installation company,

2) a LNG carrier longevity project and

3) an upgrade of a drillship.