Morgan City Facility News

InterMoor said it has completed the final tensioning and chain cutting operations on the FPSO Turritella for the Shell Stones project, located in the Walker Ridge protraction area in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The FPSO Turritella will connect to subsea infrastructure located beneath approximately 9,500 ft (2,896 m) of water, breaking the existing water depth record for an oil and gas production facility. This ultra-deepwater project marks the first FPSO for Shell in the GoM, and the second FPSO in the GoM.

Lockport, La.-based Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. is humming with work from oil and gas companies and government agencies. Family-owned and operated, Bollinger has 10 shipyards -- nine in south Louisiana and one in Texas -- along with 28 drydocks and 3,000 employees in four administrative locations. Last month, we caught up with Ben Bordelon, Bollinger’s Executive Vice President of Repair, for his outlook on the firm and the Gulf of Mexico. Bordelon is the nephew of Boysie Bollinger, who has been at the helm as CEO since 1985.

McDermott International. Inc. The project is to deliver new junction facilities for Discovery’s Keathley Canyon Connector™ pipeline system with a 3,300-ton, four-leg platform in 350 feet of water. The unmanned platform will provide pipeline junction facilities for incoming deepwater pipelines from the Hadrian South and Lucius fields and for outgoing shallow-water pipelines to shore. Fabrication is expected to commence this summer at McDermott’s Morgan City facility in Louisiana. Offshore installation is expected to commence during the third quarter of 2013, and is intended to be ready for operational start-up before the end of the year. McDermott’s deepwater combination heavy lift and pipelay vessel DB50 is expected to perform the installation.

FloaTEC Singapore Pte Ltd (FloaTEC Singapore), an equal joint venture between Keppel FELS Ltd (Keppel FELS) and J. Ray McDermott (J. Ray), has signed a contract worth about $1b with the Papa-Terra Joint Venture, consisting of Petrobras and Chevron, to build and operate the P-61 Tension Leg Wellhead Platform (TLWP). This follows shortly after a Letter of Intention for the unit was issued by the Papa-Terra Joint Venture to FloaTEC Singapore in October 2009. The project scope — comprising design…

J. Ray McDermott will undertake fabrication and installation work for the P-61 Tension Leg Wellhead Platform (TLWP) in more than 3,871 feet of water, for the Papa Terra Joint Venture, consisting of Petrobras (operator) and Chevron. The overall P-61 project — comprising design, engineering, construction, transportation, installation, and a three-year limited operations contract — was awarded to FloaTEC Singapore Pte Ltd (FloaTEC Singapore), a joint venture between Keppel FELS Ltd (Keppel FELS) and J. Ray. Almost all the work will be carried out through the combined resources of Keppel FELS, J. Ray and FloaTEC LLC (FloaTEC), the US-based joint venture company that will perform global engineering and basic design work.

Conrad Industries, Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets: CNRD.PK) announced that it has been awarded a contract for the construction of a shallow draft dredge with a value of $13.1m. The United States Army Corps of Engineers awarded the contract to Conrad for the design and construction of a 156-ft self-propelled, shallow draft, split hull hopper dredge for the Wilmington District. The dredge will operate year round in coastal inlets from Florida to Maine. The vessel will be built at our shipyard in Morgan City, La. Johnny Conrad, President and CEO stated, “We have enjoyed a very good working relationship with the Corps which began in 1994. Since that time we’ve completed fourteen projects including towboats, fuel barges and crane barges.

ABS Quality Evaluations Inc. has certified the first offshore platform fabrication company's environmental quality management system to the internationally recognized ISO 14001 standard. The Morgan City, La., facilities of worldwide marine construction company J.Ray McDermott, Inc., was successfully audited by ABS QE to receive this certification. According to ABS QE Auditor Patricia Fitzgerald, the Morgan City facility implemented an integrated Quality, Health and Environmental management system for the entire scope of fabrication and repairing of offshore structures. Since residential neighborhoods and other businesses as well as bayous border the yard, environmental concerns were factored into the overall program. The Environmental Management Systems (EMS) procedures developed by J.

With several shipyards and marine operators in the area, Morgan City, La. is a center for crewing and supply of the Gulf oil industry. Since last January, a partnership between the Louisiana Technical College (LTC) and Cummins Mid-South has trained more than 120 diesel mechanics and engineers on aspects of high horsepower Cummins engines. As a distributor, Cummins Mid-South supports both their own and independent dealers in a network covering the states of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. The training is available to Cummins dealers, customers and selected LTC diesel tech students. Training is also available to the Diesel Technology instructors of the LTC system throughout the state.

Conrad's aluminum manager Todd Babin shows the "tweaked" props. The 300-ton travel lift at Conrad Industries Morgan City facility is a major attraction to Gulf Coast crew boat operators. Shallow waters in the area add to the heavy usage that crewboats receive contributes to a steady demand for quick haul outs and timely below waterline repairs. The yards large upland area is another attraction as it provides ample storage space for vessels undergoing major overhauls. This latter is the case with a series of six vessels recently acquired by Seacor Marine as part of their larger take-over of the Seabulk fleet. The six crewboats were each powered by four electronically controlled 1100 hp two-cycle engines turning at 2100 RPM that were getting only about 6000 hours before requiring a rebuild.

1956: Elvis released his first album; the film debut of Invasion of the Body Snatchers was frightening American audiences; My Fair Lady opened on Broadway; and J. Ray McDermott began operations at the offshore industry's first dedicated steel fabrication yard near Morgan City, Louisiana. Among the major events of early 1956, many are now trivia, but the Morgan City "fab yard" continues to have a profound and lasting effect on the region and the world. Since its humble beginnings on April 1, 1956, J. Ray's Morgan City fabrication facility has built more offshore structures than any other fabrication facility and has served as the model for new offshore fabrication yards around the globe.

J. Ray McDermott, S.A. ("J. Ray"), a subsidiary of McDermott International Inc. ("McDermott"), announced that its Morgan City, Louisiana fabrication facility has been awarded a contract for the construction of flues, ducts and reactor panels by The Babcock & Wilcox Company ("B&W"), also a McDermott subsidiary. The contract is in support of B&W's Kansas City Power & Light LaCygne #1 SCR project and is valued at approximately $4 million. Scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2006, the contract requires J. Ray to procure structural steel materials and to fabricate, paint, load-out and ship to Kansas City: SCR system flues, ducts and reactor panels weighing approximately 2,500tons.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico region is again poised to prosper, spurred by the buzz of activity surrounding the oil patch, and specifically the renewed vigor with which companies will explore and develop deepwater fields for the production of natural resources. Though the resumption of business at "full throttle" has taken perhaps a bit longer than many observers would have initially predicted, particularly given the continued high price of oil and gas and the "pro" oil industry political team occupying the White House, it is a safe bet that, at least for the next several years, the offshore oil business will ensure that the marine business in the GOM region is a prosperous one.

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. has signed a contract for modifications and conversions for MSV Ocean Intervention, a multi-purpose support vessel owned by Oceaneering International, Inc. Measuring 243 x 54 x 19 ft., the vessel will undergo revisions to its moon pool systems and "A" frame, as well as enhancement of tank capacities at Bollinger's Morgan City facility.

Hurricane Katrina forced the closure of Regional Examination Center (REC) New Orleans for an as yet, undetermined duration. The Coast Guard is expanding its services in Memphis to restore services to merchant mariners in need of credentials. Due to space limitations, a temporary facility will be opened up that will be staffed by employees from REC New Orleans. The space has been identified, and office equipment and computers are already in place. Employees are being directed to report to their temporary location in Memphis and this secondary facility should be open for full service no later than 30 September. Operating hours will be the same as those currently in place at REC Memphis. These operating hours and contact information will be published in a future press release.