Cosco Shipping Dalian has agreed with Maersk Supply Services to build six subsea support vessels. Dalian Cosco Shipping Engineering Co., Ltd. is one of the core enterprises of Cosco Shipping Engineering Group under Cosco (Group) Corporation.
Under the terms of the deal, Maersk Supply Services agreed to pay $470 million to build four 8,000-DWt vessels and retain options for two more.
Carsten Plougmann Andersen, chief executive Officer of Maersk Supply Services, said: "This order from China is the next step in a more extensive new shipbuilding programme. We are reshaping the fleet, focusing primarily on tugboats and subsea support vessels. In the long term, we recognize that there is great potential in these areas.”
Under the agreement, the first subsea vessel is expected to be delivered from the fourth quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2017 at Cosco Dalian Shipping. It is reported that the submarine operation support vessel can operate at a depth of 3,000 meters.
Maersk Supply Services, part of the AP Maersk Group, has a fleet of more than 60 subsea support vessels, platform supply vessels and towing vessels.
