JSC Circle Marine Invest has ordered three icebreaker tugs from STX Europe subsidiary STX Norway Offshore for operation by subsidiary company, Caspian Offshore Construction in Kazakhstan following 2010 and 2011 deliveries. The contract is worth about Nkr750m (US$112m) will operate the vessels in the Kashagan field of the northern Caspian Sea.
"With Caspian Offshore Construction being a new customer to STX Europe, these contracts are of strategic importance to us. The Caspian Sea is of great interest to STX Europe, especially the Northern part where our ice breaking expertise is required" says Roy Reite, President for STX Europe's business area Offshore & Specialized Vessels. The vessels will be 65 metres long with a beam of 16.4 metres and will be built to Ice class notification 1A* Super, according to the Finnish-Swedish Ice classification rules. Further, the vessels will be equipped and designed for other operations like fire fighting, rescue operation and towing in shallow waters. "The Caspian icebreaker tugs are based on the first Aker Arctic DAS (TM) icebreakers, having operated for more than 10 years in the Kashagan oil development. They are also showing the good synergies between Aker Arctic and STX Europe", says Mikko Niini, President of Aker Arctic Technology Inc.
"With Caspian Offshore Construction being a new customer to STX Europe, these contracts are of strategic importance to us. The Caspian Sea is of great interest to STX Europe, especially the Northern part where our ice breaking expertise is required" says Roy Reite, President for STX Europe's business area Offshore & Specialized Vessels. The vessels will be 65 metres long with a beam of 16.4 metres and will be built to Ice class notification 1A* Super, according to the Finnish-Swedish Ice classification rules. Further, the vessels will be equipped and designed for other operations like fire fighting, rescue operation and towing in shallow waters. "The Caspian icebreaker tugs are based on the first Aker Arctic DAS (TM) icebreakers, having operated for more than 10 years in the Kashagan oil development. They are also showing the good synergies between Aker Arctic and STX Europe", says Mikko Niini, President of Aker Arctic Technology Inc.