A Technip vessel: French contractor buys newbuild construction support vessel as part of fleet renewal plans.
Technip buys Oceanteam newbuild
Paris-based Technip has elected to buy the construction support vessel North Ocean 103 from Norwegian company Oceanteam after entering into a long-term charter for the pipelayer last December.
Techip has bought North Ocean 103 together with the ship-owning entity, North Ocean III KS, for an undisclosed sum. The transaction when complete, will beef up Oceanteam’s cash position by another 25 million euros.
The vessel is being constructed at Metalships yard in Vigo, Spain. The newbuild will be fitted out to Technip’s specifications after its scheduled delivery from the Spanish shipyard in August.
Last December, Technip has entered into an eight-year charter for North Ocean 103.
The French contractor has now decided to opt for an outright purchase, citing plans to renew its construction fleet.
North Ocean 103 will replace single reel pipelayer Apache in 2010 and will carry out rigid pipelay operations in “a wide variety of water depths", Technip said in a statement.
The 137-metre newbuild will be equipped with 1000 square metres of free deck space and fitted with two 120-tonne tensioners on its delivery from the Spanish shipyard in the third quarter of this year.