GulfMark Americas, Inc., selected BAE Systems to build two new platform supply vessels at its Mobile, Ala., shipyard that will serve offshore drilling operations, according to a BAE Systems statement.
BAE Systems said each of the GulfMark vessels will be qualified under the U.S. Jones Act and will measure 288 feet long and 62 feet wide. The Jones Act requires all goods transported by water between United States ports be carried in U.S.-flagged ships constructed in the U.S., owned by U.S. citizens and crewed by U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
The selection includes GulfMark options to have two additional platform supply vessels built in the future. According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 10-Q form filed July 24, each vessel is expected to cost $48 million.
BAE Systems spokesman Neil Franz said Friday construction of the first vessel is set to begin in the first quarter of 2013 with delivery anticipated for first quarter 2014. Franz also said delivery of the second vessel is slated for 2015.
GulfMark Americas is a division of GulfMark Offshore, Inc., [GLF], which is based in Houston.
The design for the BAE Systems-built Green DP2 vessels will be provided by MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting, Ltd., of Poland and will be based on similar platform supply vessels currently under construction for GulfMark abroad. The new vessels will be U.S.-flagged and will support the anticipated future demand in the Gulf of Mexico offshore market, as well as other areas around the world as necessary, according to BAE.
The GulfMark contract is part of a recent expansion at the Mobile shipyard. BAE last month teamed with Mid Ocean Tanker Company, a joint venture between MidOceanMarine and the private equity firm Alterna Capital, to complete the American Phoenix, a U.S. flag/Jones Act-qualified product chemical tanker. Measuring 616 feet long and 105 feet wide, it is the largest vessel ever built and launched in Alabama. BAE has also started construction on the MV Magdalen, a training suction hopper dredge that is scheduled to be delivered in 2014.
BAE Systems said it was awarded a contract from Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company in June to build two 262-foot-long dump scows, starting in October.