THE Scottish offshore fabrication industry has won the last large
order for a platform jacket expected to be awarded for some time.
The French company Total Oil Marine last night announced that the #30m
contract to build the jacket for its Dunbar field had been awarded to
the RGC Offshore yard at Methil.
The award has been delayed for a number of weeks and there had been
fears that it might go abroad, either to Spain or Italy.
While it is welcome news that it has come to Scotland, there will be
disappointment at the two other main yards in the north, Highlands
Fabricators at Nigg and McDemott Scotland at Ardersier.
They were both in the bidding for the contract and had been pinning
their hopes on staving off further redundancies by winning the order.
When it completes the second jacket for the Scott field early next
year, there seems little alternative for the Ardersier yard but to pay
off most of the workers and go on a care and maintenance basis until a
new contract can be found.
Industry analysts have been predicting a bleak future for the
fabrication industry with some saying that one, possibly two, of the
Scottish yards could be forced to withdraw from the North Sea industry.
Fabrication of the jacket will start at once at the Methil yard,
safeguarding the jobs of the current workforce, and it is due for
completion in early 1994 with the sailaway fixed for April 30.
Mr Claude Brice, managing director of Total Oil Marine, said: ''This
contract has been awarded to the successful bidder after careful
examination of extremely competitive tenders. The successful bidder has
been chosen on the basis of the commercial, technical, and contractual
merits of the bid.''
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