£300m sea rig contract will create work for 400
6:01am Monday 6th November 2006
HUNDREDS of jobs will be created in the region after a construction consortium was chosen to build a £300m oil and gas platform, it was announced last night.
The Tees Alliance Group has been given the contract to build a floating drilling platform, which will be the biggest non-military marine construction project in the UK.
At least 400 jobs will be created in the region as a result of the venture, which has been hailed as a huge boost for the area's gas and oil sector.
It was also revealed that the Sea-Dragon Offshore group, based in the Cayman Islands, has plans to build two more identical vessels with the Tees Alliance Group, whose members include Cleveland Bridge and Sarens Cranes, which could bring further employment to the area.
Initial plans are for one of those vessels to be built entirely on Teesside.
The first rig is expected to be delivered in 2009 to the Haverton Hill shipyard, near Billingham, which closed as a shipbuilding site in the early 1980s.
The completed vessel will be able to drill for oil and gas in depths of up to 10,000ft, and will be used around the world.
The first hull has already been bought from the Sevmash shipyard, in Russia, and SeaDragon Offshore is securing options on two further Russian hulls.
The announcement was hailed by the Tees Alliance Group and Frank Cook, the MP for Stockton North, who have been involved in negotiations with SeaDragon for more than a year to bring the contract to Teesside.
Hopes were high that the news could start a North-East resurgence, as contractors look for alternative locations to Japan and Korea, where many yards are full with work.
Mr Cook, who has led campaigns for the regeneration of the Haverton Hill yard, last night said: "For over 40 years, I have used every possible opportunity to tell anyone who would listen about the superb industrial skills and facilities here on Teesside."
David Eason, the chief executive of Tees Alliance Group, said: "It will secure major employment for locally skilled people in a field of work that has been in recession in this area during the last eight years."
SeaDragon Offshore chairman Stephen Baird said the company was confident Teesside could create a "world-class vessel".
The project has been helped by groups including development agency One NorthEast, Tees Valley Regeneration and English Partnerships.