With Singapore easing Covid-19 measures earlier this year, Keppel Shipyard reports that its shiprepair and conversion business activities have been picking up in 2022, compared with the same period last year. A spokesman says: “We are continuing to receive strong enquiries for repair, conversions and other major specialised projects.”
In particular the yard notes that the global floating production structures market is showing signs of recovery, with confidence returning to pre-pandemic levels. The company says that field operators are awarding FPSO projects as oil prices continue to trade around US$90/bbl, while natural gas is still widely considered a cleaner transition fuel as the world moves to achieve net zero. “The current Russia-Ukraine conflict has created plenty of interest in the LNG space, especially in the FLNG and FSRU segments,” the spokesperson adds.
At the end of the third quarter of 2022 workload at Keppel Shipyard included five FPSO conversion/modifications, one FLNG conversion, one FSRU EPC conversion and three FPSO EPC projects for Petrobras.
Keppel Shipyard has also recently completed the jumboisation of the Boskalis dredger Prins der Nederlanden in June this year, working in partnership with ST Engineering, which fabricated the midbody section. Keppel is currently working on a second dredger, Oranje, which is on track to be delivered to the same owner by the end of this year.
Within the repair and maintenance activities of the yard, environmental retrofits continue to feature heavily. Interestingly, Keppel reports a resurgence in enquiries for scrubber installations, as owners re-evaluate their long-term investments. “With charter rates continuing to climb across the board, the disparity between vessels with and without scrubbers is stark. Many owners will be eyeing the next drydock as an opportunity to fit a scrubber and level the playing field,” the spokesperson states. “We have also identified opportunities in sustainable repairs and upgrading, such as air lubrication systems and ammonia-based fuel solutions, as we continue to collaborate with owners and established vendors to provide fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly solutions.”
To assist with repair and survey related work at the yard, as well as new building activity, Keppel is investing in innovative digital solutions. One of the most notable has been the introduction of Smart Glasses, with partners M1, which offer 5G Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) solutions. Equipped with a camera lens, microphone, micro speaker and cellular or WIFI reception, Smart Glasses can perform real-time analyses and provide data to the wearer and are also equipped with a micro projector, which can project a digital overlay of text and images within the wearer’s field of vision.
Smart Glasses are used to digitalise the process of inspection and asset maintenance. Inspection personnel wearing Smart Glasses are able to view work instructions, that can be controlled through voice-commands, via the display headset, replacing labour-intensive manual check sheets and drawings. The yard believes the technology will significantly reduce the man hours required for onsite inspections and surveys.
