TEHRAN – The Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) is expected to finalize a deal to build two drilling rigs for an international oil consortium.

The company won the contract against strong international competition. It is expected to be finalized next month, noted the IOEC managing director Masud Soltanpur.

The company, making use of the most state of the art equipments and gears is expected to finish the project in 32 months, he said adding that the agreement is valued at $300 million.

In its bid to develop maritime fleet, the IOEC has purchased a number of vessels including a 4,000-ton floating crane scheduled to be delivered to the company by its Chinese manufacturer, in early autumn this year, he added. The vessel will be mainly operating in the Persian Gulf waters.

He also referred to the purchase of a 4,400-ton floating crane which would make it possible for the company to carry out pipe-laying operation at the depths of up to 300 meters in the sea waters.

He also pointed out to the developments that lead to the final purchase of the pipe-layer barge, Jascon 5 and expressed satisfaction over the measure. Jascon 5 is a highly flexible and sophisticated offshore construction work vessel specifically designed for a wide variety of offshore oilfield construction projects and for unrestricted world-wide operation.