Lockheed Martin Wins $25M Crewboat Contract

Lockheed Martin won a contract valued at more than $25 million to perform detailed design, construction, test and delivery of two Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) crew transport vessels that will provide service to Mexico’s national oil company, PEMEX. The Lockheed Martin design is based on its SLICE Small Waterplane Area hull form.

The contract, awarded to Lockheed Martin by Hoteleria y Servicios Petroleros, S. A. de C.V. (HSP), calls for the delivery of two SWATH crew transport vessels that can safely and swiftly transport people and limited cargo from Ciudad del Carmen to the Campeche Basin Oil Field 90 miles offshore. HSP will operate the two Lockheed Martin SWATH crew transport vessels for PEMEX for five years after delivery.

“After four years of continued joint efforts bringing PEMEX the best technology available today, HSP is very excited about this achievement,” said Carlos Alfaro, chief executive officer of HSP. “We are confident the SLICE® design is the greatest advancement in offshore marine crew transportation technology in this industry in decades. This is definitely a decisive step into better, more advanced and efficient means of swift and comfortable offshore transportation at affordable prices.” Lockheed Martin’s vessel is based on the design of SLICE®, a vessel the company designed, built and tested for the Office of Naval Research. The vessel’s advanced hull form design will improve logistical efficiency for PEMEX and to those operating these crew boats. Oil exploration and production today requires support vessels to go farther from shore into deeper waters. Transit distances are greater and passengers are exposed to rough seas for longer periods of time.

Lockheed Martin’s design provides a faster more efficient vessel. “Our SLICE® Crew Boat design takes the rough out of rough seas,” said Carol Hulgus, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s Maritime Systems & Sensors Littoral Ships & Systems line of business. “The smoother ride allows the oil rig workers to arrive in a healthy condition ready to work.”

Work on the vessel is being done in Baltimore, Sunnyvale, CA, the Philippines and Southampton, UK. The SLICE® Crew Boat will be designed, built, tested and delivered to HSP for service to PEMEX in the fall of 2006.