Keppel Wins S$120M in Contracts

Keppel Singmarine Pte Ltd, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), has clinched three newbuilding contracts worth a total of S$120 million.

The first contract involves the construction of four Anchor Handling Tug/Supply (AHTS) vessels at its Keppel Nantong Shipyard, northwest of Shanghai. The deliveries of these vessels are expected between third quarter 2007 and mid 2008.

The owner is Hadi Offshore Pte Ltd., a newly established Singapore subsidiary of Hadi H. Al Hammam Est., Saudi Arabia (HADI). The companies have awarded Keppel Singmarine a total of 14 orders since 2001. Keppel Singmarine’s latest delivery for HADI was in December 2005. An AHTS vessel, it was completed one month ahead of schedule and achieved an excellent safety record of zero-incident during the whole construction period.

Mr Charles Foo, Managing Director (Special Projects) of Keppel Offshore & Marine and Chairman of Keppel Singmarine, commented, “Construction of the first HADI vessel at Keppel Nantong Shipyard will begin by the first quarter this year. We are committed to ensure that our good track record with HADI will be replicated in Keppel Nantong Shipyard.

“Nantong City where our yard is located has good infrastructure, efficient logistics network and skilled manpower. With Keppel Singmarine’s management, we are confident that we will be able to meet our customers’ requirements in completing the newbuildings to their satisfaction.”

Mr. T.K. Rajgopal, General Manager of HADI, said, “We have full confidence with Keppel Singmarine’s capabilities and commitment. Their track record has indeed led us to entrust them to build our next fleet of vessels in their new overseas yard in Nantong, China. We are confident that they will be able to deliver the vessels with the same high quality that we have been enjoying.”

The second contract that Keppel Singmarine has secured is for the construction of a 60-tonne Ice-Class AHTS vessel for repeat customer, LUKOIL. An earlier order was placed for a similar AHTS in the second quarter 2005. The leading oil company in Russia, LUKOIL’s main activities are in oil and gas exploration and production, and production and sale of petroleum products.

In yet another deal, Keppel Singmarine will build a 100-tonne Anchor Handling Tug (AHT) for its new customer, Seaways International Pte Ltd, a newly setup operations in Singapore with base company in the Middle East.

One of the world’s leading builders of offshore support vessels, Keppel Singmarine has delivered a total of 15 vessels in 2005, with 28 others currently under construction.

It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation Limited through Keppel O&M, a global leader in offshore rigs, ship conversion and repair and specialised shipbuilding. The group’s near market, near customer strategy is bolstered by a global network of 17 yards in the Asia Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, the Caspian Sea, Middle East and the North Sea regions. Integrating the experience and expertise of its yards worldwide, the group aims to be a provider of choice and a partner in solutions for the offshore and marine industry.

These contracts are not expected to have a material impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share of Keppel Corporation Ltd for the financial year of 2006.