Mexican Jack-Up Order Placed With Keppel AmFELS

Keppel AMFELS shipyard (c) R. Almeida/gCaptain

Keppel AmFELS, the US-based subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine located in Brownsville, Texas announced the winning of a contract from Central Panuco S.A. De C.V., a subsidiary of Mexico’s Perforadora Central S.V. De C.V. to build a KFELS B Class jack-up rig worth US$240 million, including owner furnished equipment.

Scheduled for delivery in 4Q 2015, the jackup rig is intended for operations in offshore Mexico and will be able to operate in water depths of up to 400 feet, drill to depths of 30,000 feet with accommodation for 126 persons and a BOP system of 18-3/4 x 15,000 PSI.

With this latest contract, a total of 13 KFELS B Class jackup rigs have been ordered for the Mexican market since 2010.

Mr Chow Yew Yuen, Chairman of Keppel AmFELS, COO and CEO-Designate of Keppel O&M, said, “This is the fifth jackup that Keppel AmFELS is building for Perforadora Central since 2002. We have steadily built up a strong partnership with them and are pleased that our valued customer is once again entrusting us with a newbuild order for the Mexican market.

To date, Keppel AmFELS has completed Tonala, an ultra premium KFELS B Class jackup rig for Perforadora Central in 2004, followed by Tuxpan, a LeTourneau S116E rig in 2010. The Papaloapan jackup, which was ordered by Perforadora Central in March 2011, was successfully delivered in April this year. Currently under construction is the Coatzacoalcos jackup which is on track for completion in 1Q 2014.