As Seatrade Maritime News revealed in May, Topaz has commissioned 15 new Module Carrying Vessels (MCVs) from Vard to service the main contract awarded by Tengizchevroil (TCO) to a consortium comprising Topaz and Blue Water Shipping A/S.
The Vard 9 21 design MCVs, which have been developed for shallow river operation, will commence work in the second quarter of 2018 transporting oil and gas modules to the Tengiz oil field from transshipment bases in Kazakhstan for a minimum contract period of three years.
Topaz has also been appointed the technical managers of three additional MCVs by a consortium comprising Blue Water Shipping A/S and Kazmortransflot (KMTF). The contract, worth $30m, is for just over two years.
RELATED CONTENT
Topaz bump module carrier contract with Vard up to 17 vessels
Topaz cable layer wins North Sea wind farm contract extension
Topaz buck trend with H1 profit, reveal $1.6bn order backlog
Seatrade Maritime News also revealed last week that Topaz had taken options on two further MCVs with Vard. It means the Dubai company will eventually operate 20 MCVs on the Caspian Sea as part of the Tengiz oilfield contracts and own 17 of them.
“We are honoured to have been entrusted to run vessel operations for this crucial project,” said Topaz ceo René Kofod-Olsen said of the Blue Water-KMTF contract award.
“The two recent project awards have added tremendously to Topaz’s backlog and therefore improved our earnings visibility and credit strength in these challenging times for the OSV industry.”
The Tengiz oilfield is operated by Tengizchevroil LLP, a Kazakh partnership that explores, develops, produces and markets crude oil, LPG, dry gas and sulfur. Current partners are Chevron (50%), KazMunaiGas NC JSC (20%), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc (25%) and LukArco (5%).
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
