Levingston, CNC Sign Agreement To Build Jackups At La Ciotat

Ed Paden, president of Levingston Industries, Inc., Orange, Texas, announced that a license agreement has been signed between Levingston Marine Corporation and Chantiers Navals de La Ciotat (CNC), under which CNC will build the Levingston Class 111-C self-elevating drilling unit in its shipyard in La Ciotat, France.

The Class 111-C jackup is a heavy duty rig designed for operation in water depths up to 300 feet, in weather up to the equivalent of hurricane conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, and in ambient temperatures as low as - 2 0 ° C.

Levingston Marine Corporation is the Levingston Group's engineering subsidiary based in Annapolis, Md., providing naval architectural, marine engineering and transportation consulting services to the maritime and offshore industries, both in the U.S. and worldwide.

Chantiers Navals de La Ciotat is a privately owned shipbuilding and ship repair company located at La Ciotat on the French Mediterranean coast. CNC's shipyard occupies about 109 acres, including a 350,000-dwt graving dock, and employs about 4,500 people. Its current orderbook includes two containerships and three LPG tankers.

In a simultaneous announcement from its head office in Paris, Chantiers Navals de La Ciotat revealed that the company is in the final stages of negotiation of a contract for the construction of two of the Levingston- designed jackups for an owner as yet unnamed.