Ready to roar: Sea Dragon moves semi-sub work from the UK to Singapore
UK ire over Sea Dragon rig move
Singapore rig giant Sembcorp Marine will complete a semi-submersible drilling unit for UK-based Sea Dragon, a move which has raised hackles in the UK after work was pulled from a shipyard in the north-east of England.
Last week the UK government came under fire after it failed to intervene in Lloyds TSB’s withdrawal of funding for the $450 million project, which saw work transferred from Teesside to Singapore.
Sea Dragon pulled the contract to build the rig from the Tees Alliance Group (TAG) in January so it could send the work to an alternative yard in Asia. The move came after the 25% of the work had been carried outat the consortium's Haverton Hill shipyard, near Stockton, aaccording to a report published in the Northern Echo.
The newspaper said the move came after Lloyds TSB refused to continue to fund the project.
Although the Tyne Tees Rigs (TTR) consortium stepped in with an alternative bid to keep the work in the UK, Sea Dragon rejected the offer and confirmed advanced negotiations with the Jurong shipyard.
Jon Dale, director of TTR – a joint venture between Darlington-based Cleveland Bridge and McNulty Offshore from South Shields, South Tyneside – told the paper: “What we are talking about is effectively UK taxpayers’ money being used to bolster Singapore.
"We are horrified that SeaDragon can export jobs and investments at a time when the UK can least afford it without giving proper consideration to a domestic alternative.”
Sembcorp Marine, which will complete and deliver the semisub, said the six column bare-deck hull, built in Russia, will arrive at Jurong Shipyard this month.
The ultra-deep water semisub, which has a five-year charter with Mexico's Pemex, will be delivered by the end of next year.
Jurong’s contract value for the first unit is $247.3 million, with an option for a further rig.
The rig will be built for a water depth rating of 10,000 feet and maximum drilling depth of 30,000 feet.