Sembcorp Marine's subsidiary clinched US$182mln contract

PPL Shipyard signed another turnkey contract to build a jack-up rig with Atwood Oceanics Pacific Limited.

According to Sembcorp Marine, the jack-up rig which is priced up to US$182 million, is the first of a series of three jack-up options that PPL Shipyard granted to Atwood Oceanics in October 2010.

Scheduled for delivery end June 2013, this jack-up rig will be built based on PPL Shipyard’s latest proprietary design, the Pacific Class 400. This new rig will have similar specifications to the other two rigs ordered earlier, and they represent the latest generations of high specification jack-up drilling rigs with greater capacities and capabilities than current conventional units. On completion, these new rigs will be capable of operating in waters of 400 feet and drill depths of 30,000 feet. They will offer improved drilling efficiencies with off-line pipe handling, simultaneous operations support and are equipped with increased accommodation capacity.

Dr Benety Chang, Deputy Chairman of PPL Shipyard said “We are pleased that Atwood Oceanics has chosen to exercise this first option granted by PPL Shipyard. This contract reaffirms the confidence in the jack-up rig market and in particular for high specification premium quality drilling rigs.”

Mr Rob Saltiel, Atwood President and CEO, commented, “Our decision to exercise this option reflects continued confidence in the Pacific Class 400 rig design and our satisfaction thus far with the construction progress of our first two rigs at the PPL Shipyard. In addition, we believe that by committing early in the build cycle, Atwood has procured these three high-specification jack-ups at an attractive price.”

The contract is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets per share and earnings per share of Sembcorp Marine for the year ending December 31, 2011.