The Australian energy company will increase its chartered fleet of offshore support tugs in Mexico when two newbuilds are constructed at a shipyard in the UAE
Woodside Energy has secured the services of two new tugs to support itsdeepwater oil and gas operations, including tanker loadings from a floating production system offshore Mexico.
The Australian energy group has contracted Chomex Marino to provide these two offshore support tugs (OSTs) under a long-term charter. Chomex has subsequently ordered their construction by Albwardy Damen Shipyard in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
This project started when Woodside tendered for a 15-year time-charter contract for two multipurpose offshore support vessels in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chomex, a longstanding partner of Netherlands-headquartered Damen Shipyards, submitted the Damen OST design, which went on to win the tender with Woodside. These two 67-m vessels will be built to Damen’s OST 120 design with a a beam of 18 m, dynamic positioning to DP2 class, a bollard pull of 120 tonnes and 250 m2 of free deck space.
They will be capable of safely handling mooring lines and cargo hoses, hose maintenance, tanker assistance during tandem offloading operations, deploying remotely operated vehicles, standby services, oil spill response and bulk cargo transfers.
