Bangkok--10 Jan--Neo Target
Mermaid Maritime Public Company Limited (“Mermaid”), a leading provider of subsea and drilling services for the offshore oil and gas industry, today entered into an agreement with China Merchants Industry Holdings Co., Ltd (“China Merchants”) to purchase two new-build tender rigs and one new-build dive support vessel for a combined price of USD 436 million.
The orders aim to further boost Mermaid’s subsea engineering and drilling capabilities in order to meet growing and evolving customer demand. The two drilling rigs will be delivered in the first and second quarters of 2016 while the dive support vessel will be delivered in the third quarter of the same year.
Mr. Chalermchai Mahagitsiri, CEO, Mermaid said, “Mermaid is seeing sustained demand for offshore oil and gas services as the level of global exploration and production activity continues to trend upward. Our two drilling rigs, MTR-1 and MTR-2, are nearing the latter portion of their useful lives. The two state-of-the-art tender rigs we have ordered will enable us to operate at a higher level during a time in which customer preferences and hence day rates continue to favour newer equipment. We have seen this first hand through the AOD partnership with Seadrill, which deployed three brand new high specification jack-up rigs to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (“Saudi Aramco”) in the Middle East at very strong day rates. The newly ordered dive support vessel meanwhile will be Mermaid’s fourth such asset, adding to a fleet high in demand by oil majors in the Middle East and Asia. The three existing dive support vessels are currently working in Indonesia, the North Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.”
We selected China Merchants as a partner because of their expertise and track record for building and delivering high quality assets, their financial strength and their open and collaborative approach towards ensuring our expectations and timelines would be met.”
The two tender assist rigs will be built based on an industry favoured National Oilwell Varco (NOV) design, which offers 50 percent more deck space compared to older rigs, accommodation for 200 and an enhanced safety system. Including equipment spares, each tender assist rig will be built for a price of USD 149 million. The new dive support and construction vessel, valued at USD 138 million, will feature a remotely operated underwater vehicle (“ROV”) and a twin bell saturation system, enabling it to offer a high standard of subsea support activities including survey support, ROV support, diving support and subsea maintenance. The purchases will be financed through a combination of cash raised from Mermaid’s recently completed USD 176 million rights offering and loans.
Mr. Zhu Guiming, CEO, China Merchants Industry Holdings Co. Ltd, stated, “We are pleased to be chosen as Mermaid’s partner. The three orders represent the first fruits of a collaborative process that began between our two companies in early 2013, and will conclude with deliveries of all three vessels in 2016. We thank Mermaid for their support and in turn look forward to supporting their growth ambitions in the offshore oil and gas services business.”