BP Orders High Spec Subsea Construction Vessel for Caspian Sea

, a large subsea construction vessel, file photo via Havila

Marine Technology Development, the ship design and development arm of Keppel Offshore & Marine has won an order today to design a 5,000 dwt subsea construction vessel (SCV) for use at BP’s Shah Deniz gas field development in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.  For Baku Shipyard, the builder of the vessel, this marks the first order for their yard after being set up last fall in a joint venture between SOCAR, Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) and Keppel O&M.

The total contract value for the design and building of this vessel is US$378 million.  Upon delivery in 2017 and for the following 11 years it will conduct subsea installation work at the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project.

As a completely land-locked body of water, this vessel will spend its entire life in the middle of Asia in a semi-saline body of water formed when the Tethys Sea was enclosed due to plate tectonics approximately 5.5 million years ago.

This vessel will have significant subsea capability with a 750 metric ton rated main crane, an 18-person two bell diving system, a strengthened moon pool and two work-class ROVs.  The vessel will also have two engine rooms hosting 6 x 4.4MW + 2 x 3.2MW engines.

Mr Gordon Birrell, BP’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, commented on the contract award,

“We are pleased to begin cooperation with yet another major local service company to advance the executional phase of the giant Shah Deniz Stage 2 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 2 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 2 development.”

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