Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. will spend $180 million to build four vessels in anticipation of increased demand for oilfield supply vessels in the Gulf of Mexico and Latin America.
New Orleans CityBusiness reported Tuesday that the Covington-based company plans to exercise the first four of 48 options to build the supply vessels, which will be delivered in late 2014 and early 2015.
The plans are part of a building program the company launched in November. Hornbeck already has 16 new vessels under construction at U.S. shipyards.
In addition, Hornbeck will spend $50 million to upgrade six of its service vessels that were built in 1999 and 2000 and acquired in 2007. Four of those vessels recently completed two-year charters with the state-led oil and gas company Petrobras in Brazil.