The contract, awarded by Saipem, involves the provision of offshore survey and positioning services during the pre-lay, lay and post-lay installation of a 42-inch diameter, 889km long pipeline.

The line will connect the Ichthys LNG project's offshore central processing facility, located some 200km off the Western Australia coast with its onshore gas processing plant near Darwin in the Northern Territory.

Offshore activity will start in May.

UTEC will provide survey and positioning services on a range of Saipem-owned and chartered vessels.

Pre-lay survey works will be carried out from the Go Explorer, which will also provide touch-down monitoring support to the pipelay barges.

The Semac-1 will start pipelay at the Darwin end and lay about 150km of the 42in pipe before Saipem's fourth generation pipelay vessel Castorone takes over to complete the pipelay out to the Ichthys field.

UTEC Asia Pacific regional sales manager Noel Cowley said Saipem and UTEC already had a strong relationship in the Asia Pacific region having undertaken a number of contracts, including the PNG LNG pipelay contract.