Brazil: OSX Wins PLSV Construction Deal for Sapura Navegacao

OSX was hired by Sapura Navegação Marítima S/A for the construction of one PLSV (Pipe-Laying Support Vessel), for a total amount of approximately US$ 263 million, to be built and delivered by OSX at the Açu Shipbuilding Unit, in the north of the State of Rio de Janeiro. A PLSV is used for laying and installing flexible pipelines on the seabed.

Sapura is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seabras Sapura Participações S/A, which is currently wholly owned by SapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad, a company based in Malaysia, where it holds a leading position in engineering and offshore transportation & installation services for the oil and gas industry. SapuraCrest is currently in the process of obtaining its shareholders approval for a proposed joint venture with Seadrill Limited, one of the world’s largest offshore drilling companies, listed in Oslo and New York, with a market value of approximately US$ 18 billion, operating a fleet of 48 offshore drilling rigs worldwide and 14 rigs under construction. Seabras Sapura will be the joint venture vehicle for the proposed joint venture.

“The clientele of OSX’s Shipbuilding unit is now also including global players of the oil and gas industry, such as SapuraCrest and Seadrill. The OSX team is proud of this achievement, reaffirming our commitment that OSX’s Shipbuilding Unit is available to contribute to the development of oil production in Brazil” stated Luiz Eduardo Guimarães Carneiro, CEO of OSX.

OSX is a Brazilian publicly held company that provides equipment and services for the offshore oil and gas industry, being dedicated to supply the Brazilian industry’s growing demand for integrated solutions in three different segments: shipbuilding, E&P unit chartering and O&M services. Since July 2011, OSX is building the largest shipyard of the Americas, the Açu Shipbuilding Unit, in the Açu Superport Industrial Complex, in the São João da Barra Industrial District, with technology from its partner Hyundai Heavy Industries, the global leader in naval construction. In June 2011, the Açu Shipbuilding Unit project received financing priority from the Board of Directors of the Merchant Marine Fund, under contractual negotiation phase, and funding from a US$ 227.9 million bridge loan. Currently, OSX has an estimated order book of 48 offshore units, corresponding to approximately US$ 30 billion, US$ 4.8 billion of which are already confirmed, represented by seven oil and gas production platforms. The construction of these platforms is underway, at different engineering and execution stages.

[mappress]

Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, February 29, 2012; Image: osx