SeaDragon project is now ‘too risky’
THE company behind the SeaDragon project has revealed it is too risky to carry out the work on Teesside.
Oil firm SeaDragon Offshore is attempting to pull construction of a giant drilling rig from Haverton Hill because workers at the shipyard do not have enough experience of similar-sized projects to ensure costs are kept to a minimum.
After originally signing a contract with Tees Alliance Group (TAG), the company has decided to make the rigs in Singapore instead - a move which would scupper the creation of hundreds of jobs.
A SeaDragon spokesperson said: “After exhaustive attempts to raise equity and long-term debt funding over the past year, SeaDragon has concluded that its ability to secure the necessary funding to continue with this project in the current economic environment can only be achieved if the risk associated with building these assets is minimised.
“Regrettably, this requires a contract with a shipyard with previous experience of these technically complex large-scale assets and the ability to put up requisite performance guarantees.”
Unions and local MPs are still hopeful that some work can be salvaged on Teesside.
Stockton North MP Frank Cook has requested a 90-minute Commons debate on SeaDragon and said Teesside was “where the project belongs.”
Local companies involved in the scheme include Darlington-based Cleveland Bridge, which said it had not been told to cease fabrication and development work on the rig.
“It’s business as usual”, a spokesperson said.
TAG was chosen to undertake the major drilling project at Haverton Hill’s iconic shipyard in November 2006
In March last year the yard re-opened for business after 29 years.
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