Millennium Offshore Services, a provider of offshore jack-up accommodation service vessels (“ASVs”) to oil and gas industry, announced today that it has signed a contract to purchase a 300’ Letourneau 116 Cantilever jack-up rig from an offshore drilling company for $25 million, to be named the “MOS Frontier”.
The MOS Frontier will be owned by the Company’s newly formed Marshall Islands entity “MOS Frontier LLC” which is a 100% subsidiary of MOS Superholdings LLC. The rig further expands the Company’s fleet and operating capabilities in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East / North Africa regions.
It is anticipated the unit will be retrofitted and placed into service as an accommodation vessel in the second half of 2014. The total cost of the retrofit will be largely driven by the targeted end-market and specifications based on the customer’s requirements and final contract.
The Company has been in discussions with various parties concerning charter contracts for the MOS Frontier upon completion of the retrofit work and expects to have a contract finalized by the end of the year. As part of those negotiations, the Company has received a non-binding letter of intent from a multinational oil and gas company for the charter of the new unit in the Asia Pacific region.
Robert Duncan , Managing Director of Millennium Offshore Services, commented, “We continue to expand our position as a leader in the market for offshore jack-up accommodation service vessels with the newly acquired MOS Frontier vessel. This unit will allow us to further our offering in the key target markets of Asia-Pacific and the Middle East / North Africa, where we are seeing great potential and demand for our services. We expect to fund the acquisition and retrofit of the unit with cash on hand, cash flow from operations and short-term shipyard financing which will be secured solely by the vessel and improvements. We remain focused on maintaining our financial flexibility and responsibly capitalizing our balance sheet to maximize shareholder value.”
[mappress] Press Release, August 29, 2013