Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, ADNOC, has ordered two 45m-long, high-speed, catamarans to be used to service its offshore oil and gas facilities.
The contract to design and build the vessels was awarded to Australia's Austal Limited, which will carry out the work at its Philippines shipyard. Construction will start this quarter, with both vessels expected to be delivered in 2015.
The high-speed ferries will be used to transfer cargo, personnel, and equipment to ADNOC offshore installations.
Austal CEO Andrew Bellamy said the contract win was in line with Austal’s strategy of targeting commercial vessel opportunities in the oil and gas market.
“Given the subdued commercial ferry market, we have repositioned our commercial business to be more competitive and target sectors that will deliver value from the depth of knowledge Austal has in designing and constructing these vessels,” Bellamy said.
“Expanding into the Philippines was a key step in increasing competitiveness and we have enhanced this through the ongoing transfer of technology to the shipyard. We also identified new and emerging markets such the Middle East and the energy sector as key targets to drive value from the shipyard.”
