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Fairstar Heavy Transport N.V. (FAIR) announces that it will take delivery of the 50,000DWT semi-submersible vessel Forte, currently under construction by Guangzhou Shipbuilding International (GSI) in China, on May 23, 2012.
Willem Out, Chief Operating Officer of Fairstar, visited the Forte just before the beginning of the Chinese New Year Holiday. He reported “GSI has done an exceptional job. We have agreed to take delivery of the Forte on May 23. The quality of the construction and the performance features of this ship have impressed us from the beginning of our collaboration with GSI. Forte will sail straight away to a module fabrication yard in North Asia to load her first cargo for the Gorgon LNG Project and is under contract for as long as twenty six months.
High value, multi-voyage energy infrastructure projects are the focus of our future strategy. Energy Majors and the Engineering Companies managing the construction of multi-billion dollar energy projects are becoming increasingly selective in the vessels qualified to provide marine transportation services of large modules. Most of the tender pre-qualification documentation we have seen in the last year requires vessels to be less than fifteen years old and asbestos free, as well as having an open stern capable of accommodating modules 43 meters wide, 80 meters long and weighing up to 12,000 tonnes.
The Forte and the Finesse tick all of these boxes as well as having important redundancy features in the propulsion and ballast systems which are highly valued by our clients. The current global fleet of marine heavy transport vessels is largely made up of single screw, converted oil tankers, over 20 years old and incapable of open stern loading operations. Forte and Finesse will consolidate Fairstar’s competitive fleet advantage and position Fairstar to win a series of multi-voyage contracts that are expected to be awarded in the coming months. Our investment decision to build these vessels will reward our shareholders with consistent and predictable returns for many years to come.”
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