BELFAST shipyard Harland & Wolff has landed the latest in a number of lucrative contracts which will see 1,000 personnel working on a single vessel refit by next spring.
Cenovus Energy, an international integrated oil and natural gas company headquartered at Calgary in Canada, has awarded the mid-life upgrade contract of the SeaRose floating production storage and offloading vessel to H&W Belfast.
The base contract value is approximately £61 million, and the vessel is due to arrive in Belfast in the first quarter of 2024.
It will be in the building dock for a period of more than three months, and at its peak it is estimated that there will be 1,000 people working on the vessel, including the company's staff and sub-contractors.
Confirmation of the deal came after a letter of intent was signed at the end of July between H&W and Cenovus Energy, which has a market capitalisation of $54 billion (£32.5 billion).
A number of pre-arrival works have already commenced, including inspections, procurement of steel, fabrication of customised blocks and other dry dock operations.
Belfast shipyard will commence certain fabrication works almost immediately so that it is fully prepared to commence refurbishment and upgrade works as soon as the vessel arrives next year.
On completion of pre-arrival workstreams, H&W is expected to generate revenues of around £10 million for 2023, with the outstanding balance expected to be received next year.
Revenues from this contract are included within management's revenue expectations for the Group to achieve £100m this year and £200m in 2024.
John Wood, chief executive of Harland & Wolff Group Holdings, said: "I am delighted that Cenovus has chosen Harland & Wolff as its preferred yard to undertake the mid-life upgrade of the SeaRose.
"The vessel first came into Belfast in 2012, so we will use our existing knowledge of this floating production storage and offloading vessel, in addition to applying the latest technologies and innovations for these kinds of highly specialised projects."
He added: "This is a significant win within our non-defence portfolio from a global, blue-chip energy group and I am pleased that we are gaining a reputation as a go-to yard for large and complex programmes.
"With an estimated 1,000 personnel on-site, this project will allow for further synergies in our execution, leveraging off of personnel, skill sets and supply chains that will support the upcoming Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme."
The £1.6 billion FSS Warship programme will last seven years and bring long term employment and opportunities until 2031.
Harland & Wolff will be responsible for the fabrication of various blocks including some mega blocks (ie a block incorporating several standard sized blocks) as well as the procurement of a number of items of equipment to be installed on each vessel in Belfast.
Demolition works at the iconic Belfast yard begun in April, marking the start of its journey to becoming the UK’s most technologically advanced shipyard.
