Singapore's Seatrium selling Texas shipyard to Turkey's Karpowership for $51 million

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Singapore-based Seatrium Limited SEAT.SI said on Tuesday it has a deal to sell its "surplus" AmFELS Yard shipbuilding facility in Texas for $50.67 million to an affiliate of Karpowership.

AmFELS Yard, located in the Port of Brownsville, builds oil and gas platforms, as well as vessels that serve the energy industry. It is Seatrium's only U.S. shipyard and will be the first for Karpowership, which operates the world's largest fleet of floating power plants known as powerships and is a subsidiary of Turkey's Karadeniz Holdings.

The shipyard last week delivered the 472-foot (143.87-meter) Charybdis, the first U.S.-built wind turbine installation vessel commissioned by Dominion Energy D.N, to its home in Virginia. Construction of that vessel took five years and cost an estimated $715 million, according to a Dominion regulatory disclosure.

The AmFELS Yard sale comes as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for a domestic shipbuilding revival, and as he seeks to block wind power projects.

Seatrium said the S$65 million sale will be accretive. The transaction is between Seatrium AmFELS and Karpower Valley, a related party of Karpowership.

Seatrium formed after the merger of Singapore shipyard groups Sembcorp Marine and Keppel Offshore & Marine in 2023. Keppel took full control of AmFELS in 1992.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach the parties to the sale.

The completion of the divestment is subject to customary closing conditions, including the transfer of the lease to the new owner by the Port of Brownsville.

Seatrium in a statement committed to completing all ongoing projects at AmFELS Yard by the end of 2025 to ensure a smooth transition for customers and partners.

Divesting the "surplus facilities" will allow Seatrium to enhance its capital and operational efficiencies, the company said.

"We have a strong and longstanding relationship with Karpowership, and are pleased to entrust the yard to a partner with whom we will continue to deepen our collaboration," Seatrium CEO Chris Ong said.

After the deal closes, Seatrium will transition its strategic presence in the U.S. to focus on engineering innovation and technology capabilities.

($1 = 1.28 Singapore dollars)