Marine Log - June 2008 - (Page 7)

Update INL AND • COASTAL OFFSHORE • DEEPSEA GULFMARK MAKES ITS MOVE biz NOTES Tidewater raises dividend Tidewater, Inc., the world’s largest offshore service vessel operator, has raised its dividend for the first time in 12 years. The company’s board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share on Tidewater’s about 52.3 million shares of common stock outstanding. This represents a 67% increase in the previously paid quarterly dividend rate of 0.15/share. Gulfmark Offshore will acquire a modern fleet of offshore service vessels, including platform supply vessels such as the First and Ten ulfMark Offshore, Inc., Houston, Tex., has inked a deal valued at upwards of $550 million to acquire Rigdon Marine Corporation, Houston. Under the terms of the agreement, GulfMark will acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interest of Rigdon Marine and its holding company for $150 million in cash and about 2.1 million shares of GulfMark common stock, plus the assumption of some $268 million in debt and about $19 million in expenditures to complete the vessels under construction. GulfMark expects to finance the cash portion of the consider- G ation with cash on hand and borrowings under its current $175 million revolver. Larry Rigdon, president and CEO of Rigdon Marine, will join the GulfMark board under the agreement. GulfMark Offshore says the combined company will have 2,000 employees and initially operate 90 vessels. with another 16 vessels under construction for delivery through 2010. The combined GulfMarkRigdon fleet will also be geographically diversified, with 24 vessels in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico bringing the total fleet to 34 vessels based in the Americas, 42 vessels based in the North Sea and 14 in Southeast Asia. BOURBON TO SELL STAKE Meanwhile, Paris-based Bourbon, which provided financial backing to Rigdon Marine to get started, says that it will sell its stake in Rigdon on completion of the merger which is due to take place in the 3rd quarter of 2008. Bourbon says this will give it a capital gain on the sale of about EURO 60 million, plus repayment by Rigdon of loans granted by Bourbon, for a total EURO 110 million, which, in addition to the cash proceeds from the sale, will reduce the group’s debt. Seadrill signs LOI with Jurong Singapore’s Jurong Shipyard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine, recently announced a Letter of Intent (LOI) from Seadrill for a deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig at a turnkey contract value of $640 (S$870) million. This is the fourth identical newbuild deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig that Seadrill has ordered at Jurong Shipyard. Scheduled for delivery in December 2011, the sixth generation ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig will be built based on the Friede & Goldman Ex- D design. It will have specifications identical to its predecessors, the first of which, West Sirius (photo inset) was delivered to Seadrill on schedule in the first quarter of 2008. Deepwater buying binge for Petrobras PETROBRAS RECENTLY announced that it intends to build 40 drilling ships and semi-submersible platforms to operate in deep and ultra-deep waters. The Brazilian state oil company made the announcement during a meeting with the Brazilian Federal Government, and Brazilian industry representatives. The plan foresees the construction and receipt of www.marinelog.com the 40 units through 2017, and priority will be given to building them in Brazil. An invitation to tender is currently underway for the chartering of 24 vessels to support exploration and production activities. Petrobras says bidding is expected to take place for another 122 of such vessels in the next six years. OSV’s 146 The 146 support vessels will be built in Brazil. The investments that have been envisaged meet the company’s production development exploratory portfolio and are aligned with the company’s strategic planning with regards to growing oil and natural gas production. See breaking news at: www.marinelog.com JUNE 2008 YEARBOOK MARINE LOG 7 http://www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - June 2008

Marine Log - June 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Innovation Needed to Meet Crew Shortage Optimism Abounds Despite Slowing Economy Can Shipping's Shopaholics Keep Up the Buying Binge? Can Congress Keep Navy Shipbuilding Off the Rocks? Fitting the Ultra-deepwater Pieces Together Generation Next Higher Demand, Higher Prices Demand Up For Large Combination Vessels The Dirty Truth About Emissions SSAS: Realizing Its Potential Fuel Saving Technology Newsmakers Tech News Contracts Events Buyer's Guide Website Directory ML Marketplace Tech Talk

Marine Log - June 2008

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