Brazil: OSX Receives USD 263 Million Order for New PLSV

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.

ABOUT 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. The FPSO OSX-1, the first offshore unit in OSX’s fleet, became operational in January 2012 and its private international financing, in the amount of US$ 420 million, was awarded the “Shipping Debt Deal of the Year – South America” award from Jane´s Transport Finance and the “Deal of the Year – 2010” award, in the “Project Finance” category of the Marine Money magazine. The private international financing of FPSO OSX-2, in the amount of US$ 850 million, was awarded the Oil & Gas Deal of the Year Americas, at the Project Finance International Awards. In March 2010, OSX raised R$ 2.5 billion in its IPO, the seventh largest primary IPO in the history of the BM&FBOVESPA. OSX is a part of the EBX Group, a corporate conglomerate founded and headed by Brazilian entrepreneur Eike Batista, who has a proven track record of successfully developing new ventures in the fields of natural resources and infrastructure, with the highest technology and sustainable standards.

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Subsea World News Staff , February 29, 2012; Image: OSX