Mermaid Maritime delays China-built rigs and dive support vessel

2016-05-30

Mermaid Maritime delays China-built rigs and dive support vessel

Mermaid Maritime has deferred taking over two newbuild rigs and one dive support construction vessel (DSCV) from China Merchants Industry Holdings in view of the sluggish market.

The class tender rigs, MTR-3 and MTR-4, will now be delivered on 31 December 2016 and the DP2 DSCV, Mermaid Ausana, will be delivered on 30 June 2017, delayed from delivery dates due this year.

“In a move to mitigate financial exposure, the company had already recorded an asset impairment write-off on the entire deposit and associated costs related to the rigs and the vessel in its 2015 financial statements,” Mermaid Maritime stated.

Mermaid Maritime added it has now aligned its strategic initiatives with market conditions through extended time to consider its preferred courses of action with these assets.

“This includes, but shall not be limited to, accepting delivery of one or more of these assets from the builder on or before the respective delivery dates, or sale and disposal of the same to interested third parties,” it said.

Meanwhile, Mermaid Maritime announced that it has secured seven different subsea projects in the Middle East with a total contract value of $11m.

The various jobs will be performed in various offshore areas of Qatar and Saudi Arabia such as Manifa, Safaniya, Zuluf and Tanajib. Most projects will be completed by end-August 2016.

Mermaid Maritime has also been awarded a one-year extension of its subsea construction support services contract with a major engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contractor in Thailand serving a major international upstream oil and gas operator.

The current existing contract of two years ending December 2016 has been extended to end-December 2017.

Additionally, Mermaid Maritime’s associate firm Asia Offshore Drilling Limited (AOD) has also secured a three-month interim contract extension for its jack-up rig AOD I. The unit is now committed until July 2016 at a day rate of $125,000 effective from January 2016.

Source from : Seatrade Global

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