The self-propelled and self-elevating vessel was ordered by longtime client Gulf Drilling International (GDI) back in July, as part of a $110m contract also covering six years’ maintenance and repairs of GDI’s existing fleet of six jack-up rigs.
Customised for field transit regions in the MENA region, the liftboat is due to be completed by the joint-venture yard in the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard complex in the Port of Ras Laffan by the end 2015.
The vessel was designed in collaboration with Bennett Offshore, a naval architecture and marine engineering arm of Keppel Offshore & Marine, and will be able to provide accommodation for 130 persons and platform support services in water depths up to 65 m, Equipment includes an innovatory 200 tonnes encircling crane, a large open deck space of around 800 sq m and heli-deck.
Abu Bakar Mohd Nor, ceo of N-KOM, stated: ‘This is N-KOM’s first newbuild project for GDI, having previously completed more than 10 jack-up rig repair and conversion projects for the company. … Having already made a name for ourselves in the repair market, our next strategy is to capture the newbuild and the robust regional offshore market by leveraging both Nakilat and KOM’s expertise to provide customers with quality and vale-added offshore solutions.”