Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc., signed a contract with Pemex, the national oil company of Mexico, for the repair, refurbishment and dry docking of Pemex’s semi-submersible accommodation/maintenance vessel, the PSS Chemul.
The 13,000 ton Chemul was recently drydocked in Mobile on the Mobile Heavy Lifter, a submersible heavy lift barge chartered in by Bender for the docking of the semi. Chemul was then towed to the work site at Bender's Yard 9, located on the east side of the Mobile River.
"This contract represents Bender's entry into this class of repair work on offshore rigs and vessels and we are very appreciative of Pemex's confidence in Bender for awarding us this job,” said Tom Bender, company president. “We have improved our facilities and added personnel experienced in this very exacting form of repair work and we are actively soliciting other work of this type.”
The scope of the work includes steel and pipe repair in the vessel’s hulls and columns, painting of the vessel, power generation replacement and repair, and the upgrade and the installation of alarm, monitoring and control systems.
Some of the major items in the contract are the removal of existing accommodation and office units and the fabrication and installation of 36 new personnel accommodation units and 7 new office units, removal of the existing 150 ton crane and the installation of a new one and the interior refurbishment of the existing permanent 300 man accommodation facility.
The Bender Team is headed up by Project Manager, Greg Castleman; Production Coordinator, Harry Stewart; Production Superintendent, Bill Holley; Project Engineers, David Hiscox, Bob Triplett and Sean Hickey; and Latin American Sales Director, Manuel Otano.