Dragados will construct the world’s largest oil drill ship
Dragados Offshore has been awarded a 220 million euro contract –the largest in the company’s history- which will provide jobs to roughly one thousand people at the shipbuilding site located in Puerto Real (Cádiz) until the end of 2009. This subsidiary of ACS will construct the first oil drilling, processing and storage ship in the world. The need to find crude oil in deeper and deeper waters has obliged the Norwegian company MPF to invest in an unprecedented project: the construction of a multifunction ship, 300 m long, 50 m wide and 27 m in height, that will set sail from the docks of Dragados Offshore.
The Cádiz based firm, belonging to the ACS Group’s Industrial Services area, has landed the largest commission in the company’s history, valued at some 220 million euros. Some of their responsibilities include the manufacture and installation of the equipment used to extract and store the crude oil.
The sheer scope of the project which has been named MPF-01 (multipurpose floater) will require that the shipbuilder to provide a dock 300 m long with a draught of 12 m. Meanwhile the hull will be constructed in Delian (China) and from there it will be tugged to Puerto Real (Cádiz) in September, 2008.
The Norwegian firm MPF, the owner of this mobile platform, plans to achieve a return on their investment of 220 million euros by hiring the vessel out to oil companies. The ship will have a storage capacity of 1,000,000. According to ACS sources, this will be the first in a series of similar contracts that MPF will present as a request for tender in search of a fleet with the ability to operate at anywhere in the world.
The first unit will require three million working hours at the shipyard in Puerto Real (Cádiz), which means that 1000 workers will be employed until the end of 2009. 'There will be work peaks where we will need the participation of up to 2000 workers', according to the ACS Industrial Services area.
Versatile
The MPF-01 vessel is an alternative to the sea-based fixed oil platforms and rigs. Its design will adapt to work involving the development of offshore (sea-based) oil and gas fields in water depths up to 3000 metres. The equipment will allow the platform to be situated in a fixed position without being anchored, and in this way the operations of drilling, storing and offloading the crude oil will be able to be carried out simultaneously.
The drilling modules, the next generation modules and propulsion equipment will all be installed by Dragados Offshore.
Their work force based between Puerto Real and Algeciras will focus on the Nord Adriatic project, ordered by Exxon Mobil, Qatar Gas and Edison Gas. This project involves the construction of a regasification plant on a block of floating concrete. When completed in the summer of 2008, it will be transported by sea to the coast of Venice.
An order that comes close to a year’s turnover
ACS called the MPF-1 a new milestone in the history of Dragados Offshore, after a long struggle with Chinese and Korean competitors: 'it is the most emblematic job to be carried out in today’s market', explained a spokesperson from the construction group.
This model is the first of its kind that will be able to drill, store and offload oil and gas, serving as the company’s entrance into the market sectors of floating production ships and deep water drilling.
In addition to the technical and technological challenge, with this contract Dragados Offshore has taken a major step forward. The firm, which had a turnover of 300 million euros in 2006 (100% from international projects) now ranks among the top ten companies in construction applications at sea. (Source: Cinco Días).
The Cádiz based firm, belonging to the ACS Group’s Industrial Services area, has landed the largest commission in the company’s history, valued at some 220 million euros. Some of their responsibilities include the manufacture and installation of the equipment used to extract and store the crude oil.
The sheer scope of the project which has been named MPF-01 (multipurpose floater) will require that the shipbuilder to provide a dock 300 m long with a draught of 12 m. Meanwhile the hull will be constructed in Delian (China) and from there it will be tugged to Puerto Real (Cádiz) in September, 2008.
The Norwegian firm MPF, the owner of this mobile platform, plans to achieve a return on their investment of 220 million euros by hiring the vessel out to oil companies. The ship will have a storage capacity of 1,000,000. According to ACS sources, this will be the first in a series of similar contracts that MPF will present as a request for tender in search of a fleet with the ability to operate at anywhere in the world.
The first unit will require three million working hours at the shipyard in Puerto Real (Cádiz), which means that 1000 workers will be employed until the end of 2009. 'There will be work peaks where we will need the participation of up to 2000 workers', according to the ACS Industrial Services area.
Versatile
The MPF-01 vessel is an alternative to the sea-based fixed oil platforms and rigs. Its design will adapt to work involving the development of offshore (sea-based) oil and gas fields in water depths up to 3000 metres. The equipment will allow the platform to be situated in a fixed position without being anchored, and in this way the operations of drilling, storing and offloading the crude oil will be able to be carried out simultaneously.
The drilling modules, the next generation modules and propulsion equipment will all be installed by Dragados Offshore.
Their work force based between Puerto Real and Algeciras will focus on the Nord Adriatic project, ordered by Exxon Mobil, Qatar Gas and Edison Gas. This project involves the construction of a regasification plant on a block of floating concrete. When completed in the summer of 2008, it will be transported by sea to the coast of Venice.
An order that comes close to a year’s turnover
ACS called the MPF-1 a new milestone in the history of Dragados Offshore, after a long struggle with Chinese and Korean competitors: 'it is the most emblematic job to be carried out in today’s market', explained a spokesperson from the construction group.
This model is the first of its kind that will be able to drill, store and offload oil and gas, serving as the company’s entrance into the market sectors of floating production ships and deep water drilling.
In addition to the technical and technological challenge, with this contract Dragados Offshore has taken a major step forward. The firm, which had a turnover of 300 million euros in 2006 (100% from international projects) now ranks among the top ten companies in construction applications at sea. (Source: Cinco Días).
