Mexican shipping company Naviera Petrolera Integral SA de CV
has signed a contract with Shanghai, China-based Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group
for the construction of three SPP17A platform supply vessels.
Privately-owned Sinopacific says the vessels are to be built
at the company’s Zhejiang Shipyard and are set for delivery before the end of
2015. They’re expected to be used by Pemex, Mexico’s largest government-owned
oil company, in support oil and gas development projects in the Gulf of Mexico.
Naviera Petrolera Integral, founded in 1997, says it
currently has 33 vessels in its fleet, 19 of which are fast supply vessels.
The contract marks the first entry into the Mexican market
for Sinopacific’s “SP” brand of offshore support vessel designs. SP brand
vessels are designed by Shanghai Design Associates, a branch of Sinopacific that
specializes in the design of offshore supply vessels.
The SPP17A, which features an electric DP II propulsion
system, is a small platform supply vessel with an overall length of 203 feet, molded
breadth of 46 feet, molded depth of 19 feet, dead weight of 1,700 tons, design
draft of 14 feet, and accommodations for 24 people. Sinopacific says the design
has previously been ordered by a number of European ship owners.