Keppel’s Baku yard bags $378m SCV contract

The contract, worth $378m, follows BP's announcement in March of $841m of stage two infrastructure, engineering and pipe laying contracts.

The vessel is due for delivery in 2017 when it will start an 11 year project installing subsea structures in Azerbaijani waters.

The order is Baku Shipyard's first major contract since its inauguration in September last year.

Rovnag Abdullayev, president of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), which owns a 65% stake in the yard, said: "We are very privileged that BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) has chosen Baku Shipyard to design and build the SCV which will support the Shah Deniz gas field Stage two development.

"We believe that Baku Shipyard, under the management of leading global offshore and marine group Keppel O&M, is well placed to support Azerbaijan's growth in the oil and gas sector, and we look forward to building up our track record with more significant contract wins in the years ahead."

SOCAR and Keppel have a history of cooperation in the region through jointly owned yard Caspian Shipyard Company, which was established in 1997 and has built a number of firsts for the Caspian including jack-ups and semi-submerisble rigs.

BP's regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, Gordon Birrell, commented, "We are pleased to begin cooperation with yet another major local service company to advance the executional phase of the giant Shah Deniz Stage two development project. This new flagship vessel for the Caspian, to be built by Baku Shipyard, will provide essential support for the construction of the Stage two subsea structures which will form the biggest subsea production system in the Caspian. Clearly, the contract underpins our plans to deploy for the first time new advanced subsea production technology in the Caspian as part of the Shah Deniz Stage two development."

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