SembCorp Signs Long Term LNG Deal
Singapore’s SembCorp Marine Ltd has announced a long-term contract from Australia’s North West Shelf venture (NWS) to provide dry-docking, refit, and other marine services, for their fleet of LNG ships. This breakthrough contract signifies the first time that a major LNG consortium has committed itself to a long-term maintenance and refit contract in the region.
At a time when Singapore is preparing itself to be a major hub and player in the LNG sector, the selection of SembCorp Marine as a refit partner of NWS, is a great boost to the Singapore marine industry and reinforces the Shipyard Group’s position as one of the area’s leaders in LNG refits.
The contract, signed in Perth, Australia, by Nick Harrison, General Manager of North West Shelf Shipping and Ms Lee-Lin Wong, Executive Director and General Manager of Sembawang Shipyard Pte Ltd, commits the retrofitting and drydocking of a number of NWS’ LNG carriers to SembCorp Marine’s Sembawang Shipyard and Jurong Shipyard for a five-year term with an option for extension of the contract. Sembawang Shipyard and Jurong Shipyard are subsidiary shipyards in the SembCorp Marine Group.
The NWS venture owns and operates nine LNG ships that require drydocking services every 30 months. Approximately half of the refits will be performed by SembCorp Marine, while the remainder of the refits will be performed in the facilities of the original Japan Consortium builders, who have a separate agreement with NWS to provide similar type of services. In addition to the conventional refit scope work, a number of other major tasks are planned for the next five years, including among others, the replacement of halon fire fighting systems with environmentally friendly alternatives, TBT paint removal, and vessel life extension.
The signing of the long-term contract marks a major milestone in the collaborative relationship between NWS and SembCorp Marine as it commits both partners to co-operating in the area of ship-repair and related services with the key objective of achieving short and long-term mutually compatible goals in HSE (Health, Safety and Environment), quality, timely delivery, cost and technology advancement.
