A joint venture shipyard between a Singapore firm and Norway's Aker Yards said Friday it has clinched a 250 million US dollar deal to build six specialised vessels for use in the booming oil and gas industry.
The anchor handling supply vessels will be built at the joint venture's new shipyard in Vung Tau, Vietnam, said a statement from Singapore's Amanda Group, one of the partners.
It said the vessels were ordered by Norway-based Aker Capital, which has interests in the oil industry. Anchor handling supply vessels can supply oil platforms, tow them to location or anchor them up. The contract is worth about 1.5 billion Norway kroner (250.53 million US).
"We are very pleased by this contract as it confirms our strategy to offer state-of-the-art offshore vessels from our new yard in Vietnam to meet the increased demand in the Asian offshore market," said Roy Reite, president for offshore and specialised vessels at Aker Yards.
Amanda Group executive chairman described the orders as a "great start" for the Vietnam shipyard, which will be ready by October this year. The first delivery will be in 2010 and the last vessel will be delivered in 2012, the statement said.