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After hours HLX news:
Monday May 4, 4:06 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Halter and Yantai Shipyards Form Joint Venture to Build Marine Vessels and Rigs in China
GULFPORT, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 1998--Halter Marine Inc. a subsidiary of Halter Marine Group, Inc. (AMEX:HLX - news) and Yantai Raffles Shipyard Co., Ltd., and Yantai Taisun Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., (collectively ''Yantai Shipyards'') have formed Halter-Yantai Raffles International, a joint venture to market and build marine vessels in Yantai Shipyards in Yantai, China. Halter-Yantai Raffles will market offshore drilling rigs, platform supply vessels, anchor handling tug/supply vessels, utility vessels, tug boats, production units, multi-service vessels and pipelaying/derrick barges for delivery worldwide.
The announcement was made by John Dane III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Halter Marine Group, Inc. who said, ''Halter is committed to achieving global leadership in the construction of marine equipment, and this joint venture is integral to our strategy for accomplishing that goal. Our customers have global operations and they will be building a portion of their fleets of vessels and rigs in yards outside of the U.S. We are positioning ourselves to service these worldwide requirements.''
The majority interest in Yantai is owned by Brian Chang, a Singapore national who was founder and former president of Promet in Singapore. Under Chang's leadership, Promet became one of the leading manufacturers of rigs in the world. ''We are fortunate to have Brian Chang as a partner. His vast experience in the rig and vessel construction business, combined with his reputation in the international business community makes him an ideal partner.''
It is contemplated that Halter will serve as the prime contractor on projects undertaken by the joint venture and will enter into construction subcontracts with Yantai. Halter will provide on site engineering, technical and program management support to Yantai. In addition, Halter has committed to purchase a minority interest in the Yantai yards.
Yantai Shipyard is located on the island of Zhifu, part of the city of Yantai, Sandong in northeast China. The yard covers 555,000 square meters and occupies 1,100 meters of coastline. It is equipped with eight 1,000 ton capacity shipways connected to a single shipway and a 205 meter long, 45 meter wide and eight meter deep graving dock.
The shipyard's existing facilities give it the capacity to build an equivalent of 20 tug/supply vessels per year or four rigs per year. A significant capital improvement program is underway now, and when completed, Yantai will be one of the most modern shipyards in the world with one of the world's largest graving docks. With the availability of labor in the Yantai area and the support of Halter, Yantai's world class facilities will be able to produce multiple boat, drilling rig, and production unit projects simultaneously.
Yantai currently employs over 1,000 with an increase of up to a total of 2,000 workers planned by the end of 1999. The moderate weather allows Yantai to be operational year round, with only about 10 to 12 days per year lost due to unfavorable weather. With weather conditions less severe than those in Japan or Korea, Yantai has an advantage over competitors in those countries. Yantai's competitive advantage will further increase when the current infrastructure improvement program is completed.
Yantai's vessels are designed, built and outfitted to meet the criteria of major international classification societies including the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Bureau Veritas, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, Lloyds Register and China Classification Society.
Dane emphasized that Halter-Yantai Raffles venture will not take away business that might otherwise go to Halter's U. S. shipyards saying, ''Our new China joint venture will capture some of the business that was going overseas anyway, and additionally, we will be able to complete the outfitting in our U.S. yards of drilling rig hulls built in the Yantai Shipyards.''
Robert Fogal, senior vice-president of marketing and business development of TDI-HALTER L.P. will be the senior marketing officer of the joint venture.
Halter Marine Group, Inc. includes 21 shipyards in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. The company specializes in the design, construction, conversion and repair of a wide variety of vessels and mobile offshore rigs and engineered products for energy, commercial, government/military and pleasure boat markets. Halter shipyards have built more than 2,600 yards in the past 40 years.
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Contact:
Halter Marine Group, Gulfport
Rick S. Rees or Robert Fogal, 713/627-1115
haltermarine.com |
