Swiber Holdings to shell out US$500m in deepwater offshore vessel

8 yards were shortlisted for the tender.

Citing Upstream1, Swiber Holdings is preparing to invest in its first large deepwater offshore construction vessel for its fleet. In particular, the company is understood to have expressed its intention to purchase a 4000-tonne crane vessel equipped with S-lay, reel lay and flex-lay systems.

The unit is expected to take up to three years to build, suggesting delivery will take place by mid-2015 at the earliest.

Here's more:

The 188m DP3 heavy-lift pipelay vessel will come with a 10-point mooring system and be powered by two azimuth thrusters, five retractable thrusters and two bow thrusters. 

Constellation (estimated cost close to US$500m, after including variation orders), and based on current information, we note that the main differences are a larger crane (4000 ton vs 3000 ton) and a slightly longer vessel.

Upstream’s sources state that at least eight yards have been shortlisted for the tender, which will see the award of a contract valued at between US$400-500m. The contending yards are said to include Keppel Shipyard, Sembawang Shipyard, ASL Shipyard, Dubai Drydocks World, and four other Chinese yards.

The capex required for Swiber is huge, but considering that the unit is expected to take about three years to build and the group has not announced any additional substantial capex plans, this may be a manageable purchase. Meanwhile, we would continue to monitor the group’s cashflow from operations.