Daewoo Shipbuilding wins two-vessel contract

By Jung Sung-ki

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), the second-largest shipyard in Korea, has won a $500 million deal to build two offshore support ships for a Brazilian-French joint venture company, the shipbuilder announced Thursday.

Daewoo signed the contract with Brazil’s Odebrecht and France’s Technip Nov. 16 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the firm said in a news release. DSME President and CEO Nam Sang-tae, Odebrecht CEO Robert Ramos and Frederic Delormel, chief operating officer of Technip, attended the signing ceremony.

Under the contract, Daewoo will build two pipe-laying support vessels (PLSVs) at its shipyard in Okpo, about 470 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and deliver them to the joint venture firm by August 2014, according to the statement.

After delivery, the ships are to be chartered by Petroleo Brasilerio SA for deep-water oil explorations, it said.

The 146-meter long, 30-meter-wide vessels will weigh 17,300 tons. Equipped with a heavy-lifting crane and a main reel, the ships will be capable of laying pipe on the ocean floor in depths of up to 2,500 meters, the release said.

In general, a PLSV carries a heavy crane used to install pumps and valves, and other equipment to lay pipe between subsea structures.

Laying methods consist of S-lay and J-lay and can be reel-lay or welded length by length. Pipe-laying ships make use of dynamic positioning systems or anchor spreads to maintain the correct position and speed while laying pipes.

“Lots of offshore exploration projects are under way now in Brazil and we expect more orders for offshore support vessels, including pipe-laying vessels,” Nam said in the release. “Based on strong partnerships with ship owners, we’re seeking more orders from Brazil, one of the emerging economic powers in the world.”

Nam concurrently serves as head of Korea’s shipbuilders’ association.

Daewoo Shipbuilding has won deals valued at $13 billion so far this year to build 48 ships and offshore equipment.