Keppel O&M clinches two contracts worth a total of about S$200m

KEPPEL Corporation on Tuesday said its offshore and marine arm Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) has clinched two contracts worth about S$200 million combined - one in the US and the other in Singapore.

These projects represent Keppel's ninth newbuild dredger and fifth floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) conversion, the conglomerate said in a press statement.

In the US, Keppel O&M's wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel AmFELS will construct a high-specification trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) for Manson Construction Co, an employee-owned marine contractor based in Seattle.

The TSHD will be the first dredger built at Keppel AmFELS' yard in Brownsville, Texas. When completed, it will measure 128 metres long with a breadth of 25 metres and draft of eight metres, have a hopper capacity of 11,468.3 cubic metres and will operate primarily in the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast of the US.

Keppel O&M chief executive Chris Ong said: "This is an exciting first newbuild project for Keppel O&M with Manson Construction Co and we will be building the largest US hopper dredger."

To date, Keppel O&M has delivered four dredgers and is building another four.

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In Singapore, Keppel Shipyard - another of Keppel O&M's wholly-owned subsidiaries - is undertaking the conversion of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier to an FSRU bound for the Port of Acajutla, El Salvador. The FSRU will be El Salvador's first integrated LNG-to-power project.

FSRUs are a cleaner, quicker and safer storage and regasification solution which is particularly suitable for deployment in remote areas with smaller energy requirements.

The contract was inked with FSRU Development Pte Ltd, a joint-venture company between BW Gas Limited and Invenergy Investment Company. BW Gas manages the LNG shipping and gas solutions business of global maritime group BW Group, while Invenergy is a global developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions.

"Keppel O&M's partnership with the BW Group has grown from strength to strength, having worked together on more than 10 projects, including FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) and FSRU conversions," Mr Ong said.

He added that amid the challenges of dealing with Covid-19, measures have been put in place across all operations - whether in Singapore or the US - to ensure work is conducted in a responsible and efficient manner so the vessels can be delivered safely, on time and within budget.

Keppel O&M converted the world's first FSRU in 2008 and previously delivered the world's first floating liquefaction vessel (FLNG), the statement said. It is working on a second FLNG, as well as Singapore's first LNG bunkering vessel.

Keppel Corp said both projects are on progressive payment terms.

The counter was trading down S$0.02 or 0.5 per cent to S$4.17 as at 10.12am on Tuesday, after the announcement.