Groupe Bourbon News

The motto at Guido Perla & Associates, Inc. (GPA) for over thirty years and continuing to this day has always been: Engineering Ideas into Reality. For clients worldwide, no matter how large or small the project, from single vessels to an unprecedented number of vessels in one series, the adage rings true. Behind the company’s success and commitment to each and every client is a team of over 70 professionals on four continents, led by the company’s Chairman Guido Perla and supported by his management team.

Guido Perla & Associates, Inc. (GPA), headquartered in , has established a European subsidiary – Guido Perla Europe GmbH (GPE GmbH) – in . GPE GmbH will initially handle the sales, marketing and PR function, as well as existing customer support. ”The strategic decision to further expand GPA into Europe supports our vision of being a truly global player,” said Inga Scholz, General Manager of GPE GmbH. Since its foundation in 1979, GPA has provided a full range of services to include Conceptual and Preliminary Design…

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) has secured a total of S$172 million worth of contracts through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Keppel Singmarine Ltd and AMFELS in USA. Keppel Singmarine, a specialized shipbuilder, will build four Anchor Handling Tug/ Supply (AHTS) vessels for European based company, Groupe Bourbon and four harbor tugs for Keppel Smit Towage. Deliveries of the eight vessels are slated progressively between the third quarter of 2004 and first quarter 2006.

ABB in Norway has secured new contracts worth $45 million for delivery of complete electric propulsion systems to two icebreakers to be built for CJSV Sevmorneftegaz by the Norwegian shipyard Havyard Leirvik, and four Platform Supply Vessels to be built in China for Groupe Bourbon by Zhejiang Shipbuilding. The contracts with Havyard Leirvik encompass system supply to two multifunctional icebreaking offshore supply vessels for the Russian company CJSV Sevmorneftegaz. For each vessel, ABB will deliver a main propulsion package including Azipod propulsion system and a complete onboard electric power plant. The ships will be delivered in 2005 and 2006 for service in the Prirazlomnoye oil field in the Barents Sea.

As noted in the accompanying article the Gulf of Mexico is in the midst of a drilling malaise. The days when southern shipyards routinely turned out 50-60 supply boats and an equal number of crew/supply vessels is over at least for the time being. The last three years has seen an unprecedented number of OSVs joined the fleets of Tidewater, Hornbeck, Otto Candies, Edison Chouest and other major offshore operators. Leevac Shipyards is a prime example. For the last four years they have built almost exclusively for Hornbeck Offshore Services, producing a number of 200-260 ft. very capable supply boats including four 240-ft. platform supply vessels in 2003. Today their order book includes a huge casino boat and a large 445-ft. by 78-ft. tank barge, but no OSVs. Quality Shipyards, Houma, La.

The new Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel of Ulstein AX104 design will be equipped with generating sets, tunnel thruster, steerable thrusters, control system and seals from Wärtsilä. In March the company received a major contract from Ulstein Verft AS in Norway for a package of generating sets, thrusters, control system and seals for an anchor-handling towing supply (AHTS) vessel ordered by Bourbon Offshore Norway AS, a subsidiary of the French marine service company Groupe Bourbon. Due for delivery in May 2006, the new AHTS vessel is of the distinctive Ulstein AX104 design from Ulstein Design AS, with an inverted bow intended to eliminate slamming and allow higher speeds in all sea conditions. The vessel will be one of the world's first AHTS vessels with diesel-electric propulsion.

Keppel Singmarine Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) has secured orders for three offshore support vessels (OSVs) and two tugboats for about $80 million. The vessels will be progressively delivered to their owners up to end 2006. Keppel Singmarine will build one ice-class OSV for anchor handling and supply purposes for new customer, the Russian oil company Lukoil Kaliningradmorneft (LUKOIL). When completed at end 2006, the vessel will be deployed in the Caspian Sea region. The other two OSVs are for repeat customer Groupe Bourbon (Bourbon). With these two 100-tonne bollard pull anchor handling tugs, Keppel Singmarine’s orders from Bourbon will add up to a total of seven vessels.

In 1998, Austal delivered the Jade Express followed closely by the delivery in 1999 of the Opale Express. These vehicle/passenger ferries were destined for Guadeloupe, in the French West Indies, and island ferry operator Antilles Trans Express (ATE). It was in 2001 when the then manager, Dr Roland Bellemare and ship captain, Bruno Moeson decided to buy the company from Groupe Bourbon who owned ATE, giving rise to L’Express des Iles S.A. or The Islands Express. Today the L’Express des Iles ferries operate regular domestic and international services between the harbours of Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, Le Saintes, Dominica, Martinique and Sainte-Lucia. It was soon after the 2001 management buy-out that discussions first began for the new ferries.

Although this has been considered an off year in the Gulf of Mexico from rig count and fleet utilization standpoints, it is another record year for major offshore operators expanding their fleets and the shipyards that are building these vessels. Last year, over 50 supply boats were delivered and about an equal number of crew/supply vessels made their way into the fleets of operators. This year looks equally robust as vessels are being ordered in quantities of four, six and even 10. This begs the question as to why offshore vessel operators are order record number of vessels if the business is sluggish? The answer is two fold: Deep water and deep gas. Drilling activity is bound to increase based on these two factors industry leaders believe.