Bourbon Orders 56 PSVs

In line with its strategy in modern offshore, Bourbon is expanding its fleet with next-generation, innovative and high-productivity vessels to assist its oil and gas clients in the development of their deepwater and continental offshore operations. On February 28 in the context of its Horizon 2010 plan, Bourbon announced investments of $1.8b, 85 percent of which will be devoted to the Offshore Division. Since January 1, Bourbon has placed the first series of orders for 56 modern offshore oil and gas supply vessels, which represents a total $808 million. These 56 vessels are in addition to the 27 supply vessels already under construction at December 31, 2005. - 18 modern offshore service vessels to be used for deepwater offshore operations In line with its growth strategy in deepwater offshore oil and gas marine services, Bourbon has defined in detail and ordered new, innovative vessels, equipped with the latest technologies to guarantee the best safety conditions during operations. The deliveries and commissioning of these vessels will be staggered from the final quarter of 2007 until the first half of 2009. - 4 PSV Ulstein P105 ordered from the Zhejiang shipyards in China These 4 vessels are sisterships of the Bourbon Peridot, delivered in 2005.

Ninety-one meters long with a deadweight of 4900 tons, these Platform Supply Vessels (PSV) will be equipped with diesel-electric propulsion, will be classed DP2 and will be pre-equipped to receive a 100 ton deep sea crane. - 8 GPA 670 PSVs ordered from the Zhejiang shipyards in China This order follows an initial order of 10 vessels of the same type, 5 of which are already in operation, giving full satisfaction to the chartering clients. With a length of 73 meters and deadweight of 3200 tons, the PSVs in this series will be equipped with diesel-electric propulsion and classed DP2.

- 5 AHTS ordered from the Bharati shipyards in India This series of Anchor Handling Tugs Supply vessels (AHTS), with 11,000 HP and a bollard pull of 125 tons, is identical to the series of 5 units, 4 of which were recently delivered by Keppel in Singapore (Bourbon Artemis, Bourbon Aladin, Bourbon Apsara, Bourbon Alexandre). Classed DP1 and equipped with a FiFi 1 anti-fire system, these AHTS offer optimum services for the towage, anchor handling operations of drilling rigs and tanker lifting at offshore terminals. - 1 MPSV ordered from the De Hoop shipyards in the Netherlands This 85-meter long Multi-Purpose Supply Vessel (MPSV) has quarters for 70 people. With diesel-electric propulsion, a DP2 system, and heave compensated 100-ton crane, this vessel is particularly adapted to sub-sea operations conducted in deepwater using robots (ROV).

- 38 modern offshore service vessels to be used for continental offshore operations By developing new concepts for vessels to replace the old units working in continental offshore, BOURBON has demonstrated its strong capacity for innovation.

- 2 MPSVs ordered from the Bharati yards in India This order follows the order for 2 MPSVs currently under construction at the same shipyards. With a length of 60 meters and accommodations for 44 people, these vessels are particularly adapted to maintenance work in producing oil and gas fields on the continental offshore. - 36 supply vessels ordered from the Dayang shipyards in China This large order includes 2 series of vessels, the concepts for which come from a GPA design identical to the design for the 10 units already ordered in December 2005 by Rigdon Marine for the US Gulf of Mexico.

Twenty-six of the 36 vessels ordered are AHTS with 80 tons of bollard pull, and the other ten are particularly economical PSVs of 1600 tons deadweight.

All 36 AHTS and PSVs ordered are diesel-electric, classed DP2 and FiFi1, and maneuver using 2 directional thrusters associated with a fixed propeller and 2 bow thrusters. They have been designed to optimize the transport of various products and can carry 640 m3 of liquid mud.

Christian Lefevre, COO of BOURBON, announced: "These large orders placed within a very short time period are one of the key factors in our international growth. With the recent opening of new subsidiaries in Mexico, Qatar, Egypt and Asia, we are able to serve the needs of our clients in those regions. Building vessels in series allows us to apply a profitable economic model to reduce construction and maintenance costs. The success of this model is based on control of industrial know-how, which BOURBON has already demonstrated. With the new vessels ordered, by the end of the year we will boost our capacity to satisfy clients' expectations for modern vessels, both for their deepwater and continental offshore operations."