Gulf Marine Services (GMS), one of the largest builders and operators of jack-up barges in the region, has unveiled its new jackup design for worldwide operations at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) which opened today (November 10).

Announcing the strategic new-build programme that includes the addition of a new design to its current fleet of nine jackups, GMS said the new S-Class jackup design will bridge the gap between GMS’ existing seven K-Class assets currently operating in the Middle East and its two E-Class harsh weather dynamic positioning (DPII) vessels presently working in the North Sea.  

Four new vessels, capable of global operations in the oil, gas and renewable energy sectors, will be built at the company’s yard in Mussafah, said the GMS in its statement.

The first, GMS Enterprise, is already underway with the project set to bring up to 600 new jobs to Abu Dhabi, it added.

CEO Duncan Anderson said the company has seen a major increase in demand for its jackup barges over the last five years. "As a result, we are currently building a third E-Class vessel in our yard in Abu Dhabi with this capable of working in even deeper water, up to 80 m, and with a larger 400 ton crane; we also have an option to build another of these large units."

“In addition to this, we’ve identified a need for a jackup that falls mid-way between the two classes we already provide, and have produced a modified Gusto design called the S-Class. We will start building the first of three new S-Class barges this month (November), which will be ready for quarter two 2015,” he added.

The S-Class will have DPII and will operate in depths of up to 55m, however it will be a smaller and more utilitarian harsh weather barge than the E-Class. It will have 800 sq m of deck space, a 150 ton main crane, a 15 ton auxiliary crane, and will accommodate from 150 to 300 people.-TradeArabia News Service