Singaporean firm to build shipyard in Azerbaijan
Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine will build and commission a
shipyard near the Azerbaijani state energy firm SOCAR’s Deep Water
Jacket Factory named after Heydar Aliyev, according to an agreement
signed in Baku on Friday.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Singaporean company by SOCAR and the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC). SOCAR holds a 70 percent stake in the initial stage of the project, while AIC holds 30 percent. Keppel Offshore & Marine intends to buy a 10 percent stake within the next three months and another 10 percent over the following three years.
The plant is to be built using existing infrastructure, which has reduced the initially estimated cost of the project. According to the preliminary feasibility study, $400 million was required to construct the facility, but the latest estimates have put the figure at $300 million to $350 million.
SOCAR will finance 30 percent of the project cost, while the rest will be covered from outside sources.
According to Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev, the plant will be commissioned two to two and a half years after the start of construction operations, which are due to begin in late 2009-early 2010. The shipyard will be equipped to up-to-date standards.
"The plant will be able to provide vessels both to the Caspian oil fleet and border services, the ministry of defense and other companies and entities operating in Azerbaijan," Mustafayev said.
The shipyard will compliment the project on building a new oil terminal and port in the Garadagh district outside Baku. Kazakhstan’s oil will be transported through the terminal for its further transit through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which transports Azerbaijan’s crude to world markets through Georgia and Turkey.
The enterprise is expected to have no matches in the entire region, and it may take orders for building ships not only from domestic customers but also from other countries.
Keppel Offshore & Marine is one of the largest offshore and marine groups in the world. The Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, was established in 2002.*
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Singaporean company by SOCAR and the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC). SOCAR holds a 70 percent stake in the initial stage of the project, while AIC holds 30 percent. Keppel Offshore & Marine intends to buy a 10 percent stake within the next three months and another 10 percent over the following three years.
The plant is to be built using existing infrastructure, which has reduced the initially estimated cost of the project. According to the preliminary feasibility study, $400 million was required to construct the facility, but the latest estimates have put the figure at $300 million to $350 million.
SOCAR will finance 30 percent of the project cost, while the rest will be covered from outside sources.
According to Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev, the plant will be commissioned two to two and a half years after the start of construction operations, which are due to begin in late 2009-early 2010. The shipyard will be equipped to up-to-date standards.
"The plant will be able to provide vessels both to the Caspian oil fleet and border services, the ministry of defense and other companies and entities operating in Azerbaijan," Mustafayev said.
The shipyard will compliment the project on building a new oil terminal and port in the Garadagh district outside Baku. Kazakhstan’s oil will be transported through the terminal for its further transit through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which transports Azerbaijan’s crude to world markets through Georgia and Turkey.
The enterprise is expected to have no matches in the entire region, and it may take orders for building ships not only from domestic customers but also from other countries.
Keppel Offshore & Marine is one of the largest offshore and marine groups in the world. The Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, was established in 2002.*
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