A semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV) from the fleet of Bluewhale Offshore, the Singapore-based offshore services contractor, has been awarded a contract to support Shell’s deepwater operations off Nigeria.
The vessel, Blue Gretha, will provide accommodation and heavy-lift services for the Bonga North project, a $5 billion development led by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo).
According to Bluewhale Offshore, the contract, obtained in collaboration with OOS International, comprises a firm period of 15 months with optional extensions. Blue Gretha, formerly known as Huadian Zhongji 01, is currently undergoing refurbishment at Bluewhale’s CIMC Raffles Shipyard in Yantai.
The 81-metre vessel is equipped with two 1,800 metric-tonne Huisman cranes and can accommodate up to 618 personnel.
Blue Gretha has previously supported Petrobras’ offshore fields in Brazil and projects in China’s offshore wind sector.
Its deployment in Nigeria marks the vessel’s first major engagement in the country, where it will handle subsea installation and logistics for Shell’s Bonga North project.
The Bonga North development, approved in December 2024, involves drilling, completing, and bringing online 16 wells—eight production wells and eight water injection wells—alongside modifications to the existing FPSO Bonga Main and the installation of new subsea infrastructure.
The project is a subsea tie-back to the Shell-operated floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit in OML 118, which has been operational since 2005 and achieved its one-billionth barrel of oil in 2023.
Peak production from Bonga North is forecast at 110,000 barrels of oil per day, with first oil expected by the end of the decade.
Shell operates the Bonga field with a 55 per cent stake through SNEPCo, in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (20 per cent), Nigerian Agip Exploration (12.5 per cent), and TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria (12.5 per cent) on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
Zoë Yujnovich, Shell’s Director of Integrated Gas and Upstream, noted: “This is another significant investment, which will help us to maintain stable liquids production from our advantaged Upstream portfolio.”
The Bonga North contract follows Shell’s January 2024 decision to divest from its joint venture in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, redirecting focus to deepwater and integrated gas projects in the country.
Blue Gretha’s engagement illustrates the company’s reliance on versatile heavy-lift assets to deliver complex offshore infrastructure and support Nigeria’s expanding deepwater production.
