Under the 30-year deal, Titan Quanzhou Shipyard (TQS) inFujian province will undertake projects related to Keppel’s proprietarydesigns, the Singaporean engineering giant said in a statement.
These will include FPSO conversions at four ultra largedrydocks as well as shiprepairs and construction of offshore drilling rigs.
The agreement is conditional on Titan completing itslong-running financial restructuring and the resumption of the trading of itsshares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange which was suspended in June 2012.
“The offshore oil and gas market in China has been growingsignificantly and there is increasing demand for high specification rigs andproduction vessels,” said Chow Yew Yuen, CEO of Keppel O&M.
“At the same time China is a market that has strongpreference for China-made products.
“Having this yard is an extension of our near market, nearcustomer strategy and enables us to service the Chinese market with our suiteof proprietary solution while meeting its requirement of building in country.
“This is further complimented with our other yard in China,Keppel Nantong, which undertakes specialised shipbuilding and offshorefabrication.”
Where it all started
The aborted $280m sale of TQS to Grand China Logistics (GCL) in2010 pushed former tanker owner Titan Petrochemical into huge financial difficulty.
Guangdong Zhenrong Energy (GZE) became the major shareholder in the Hong Kong-listed company last year and agreed to take over the GCL contract aspart of the deal.
TQS is one of the largest yards on the Chinese mainland but contributed HKD 2.4bn of Titan's HKD 4bn loss in 2012, the last year for which results are available.
Titan Petrochemical has delayed release of its 2013 numberswhile it fights a series of lawsuits related to the ongoing financial restructuring.
Aside from the shipyard Titan retains interests in the bunker and floating storage sectors.
