Keppel Shipyard Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (Keppel O&M), secured a S$150 million contract to install equipment packages on a new drillship.

The new hull is currently being built in China and is due to arrive at Keppel Shipyard in the third quarter of 2008. Keppel Shipyard is expected to complete its part of the work by the fourth quarter of 2009.

Mr Nelson Yeo, Executive Director of Keppel Shipyard, said, “We are always on the lookout for new business opportunities to support our clients in line with emerging market trends.

“This new contract brings to fore the Group’s project management expertise and capabilities in converting and integrating offshore exploration and production vessels. Owners can choose to outsource the construction of bare hull elsewhere. This can be beneficial to us because our valuable fabrication capacity can be made available to carry out other value-added work.”

Its workscope includes installation, integration and completion of the owner supplied power generation, thrusters and drilling equipment packages on a new hull.

The new drillship is designed to operate in deepwater depths of 12,000 feet and is fitted with DP 2 capabilities.