OREANDA-NEWS.  On April 23, Baku Shipyard and BP (on behalf of the Shah Deniz consortium) signed a contract to design and build a Subsea Construction Vessel (SCV).
Speaking at the event, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said that Baku Shipyard is well placed to support Azerbaijan’s growth in the oil and gas sector. The SCV is the first major contract secured by Baku Shipyard since its inauguration by the President of Azerbaijan Republic, H.E. Ilham Aliyev. Shahin Mustafayev, Minister of Economy and Industry of Azerbaijan, noted the importance of building the Vessel in realization of Shah Deniz-2 project. Afterwards, Gordon Birrell, BP's Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and David Loh, Baku Shipyard General Manager, signed the contract. According to them, signing the agreement with BP highlights the high level of technical equipment at the shipyard and its compliance with international standards.

Attendees stated that all needed vessels for Azerbaijan would be built in this Plant henceforth. The SCV will be designed by Marine Technology Development, the ship design and development arm of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M). The vessel, to be used in the Shah Deniz Phase-2 development, is expected to be completed in April 2017.

The shipbuilding yard was jointly developed by SOCAR, Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) and Keppel O&M. SOCAR, AIC and Keppel O&M own 65%, 25% and 10% share in the yard respectively.