Strategic Marine, Bhagwan Marine Contract

Ship builder Strategic Marine Pty Ltd has signed a contract with a West Australian marine operations company, Bhagwan Marine, to build a 159 ft landing craft for use in the Australian offshore oil and gas industry.

The vessel will be used in Western Australian’s north-west hydrocarbon province and has been designed by International Maritime Consultants, to accommodate for low incline beach landings. The craft’s design features a low angle bow to enable heavy equipment to be driven over the ramp door.

With a 42 ft beam, the vessel can accommodate up to ten 20-ft containers with a maximum payload of 400 tonnes.

An added advantage is its economical fuel consumption of about 150 litres per hour at 10 knots cruising speed.

The vessel, with plans to name it the Bhagwan Shaker after its sister vessel is named Bhagwan Mover, will be built at Strategic Marine’s largest shipyard at Vung Tau in Vietnam.

Strategic Marine will be working around the clock to complete the contract in time for the vessel’s first scheduled contract, in mid-February next year.

Strategic Marine chairman, Mark Newbold, said the contract represented an exciting threshold in broadening the company’s services and expertise.

“Although we have vast experience building landing craft, the design and dimensions are a first for Strategic Marine as is the contract with the Bhagwan Marine Group which we are looking forward to working with more and more into the future,” said Mr Newbold.

Loui Kannikoski, managing director of Bhagwan Marine said: “We have chosen to build with Strategic due to their quality of build and also commitment to the very tight build time.”

Although a multi-cargo vessel, it will be primarily used to transfer building and construction equipment in the areas around Dampier, Onslow and Barrow Island.

Strategic Marine also announced that it had officially purchased the lease for its Singapore shipyard, further adding to the company’s commitment of becoming a global industry player. The news comes only months after the decision was taken to double the yard’s capacity to meet anticipated demand for their highly regarded crew boats and offshore service vessels.

The company is currently constructing over 80 fully financed vessels at its yards in Australia, Vietnam and Mexico and Singapore, equating to approximately 175 million Australian Dollars worth of order.

(www.strategicmarine.com)