The contract will see Clough provide APL with project management, procurement, logistics, and offshore installation engineering services.

Clough said the offshore construction activities would be carried from its subsea construction vessel Normand Clipper and would include installation of two 230-tonne submerged turret loading (STL) buoys, associated gas risers, umbilicals, suction anchors, mooring chains, and wire segments.

The vessel would be mobilised from Europe and be used to transport the mooring system components before the start of the offshore construction campaign in the US, the company added.

Clough chief executive John Smith said he was pleased APL had selected the company for the interesting project.

"We have a significant commitment to the SURF (sub-sea construction, umbilicals, risers and flowlines) business, in people, vessels and equipment, and the Clipper is particularly well suited to high-end subsea construction of this type," he said.

"We hope that this award will assist the strategic positioning of our company in the SURF business and APL with the deployment of their STL and submerged turret production technologies around the world."

The Neptune Deepwater Port will provide an average of 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, enough to serve 1.5 million homes, according to Clough.

The installation campaign is scheduled for the second quarter of 2009.