A consortium including Dubai-based Topaz Energy & Marine has secured a $350m contract for the supply and operation of 15 vessels to Kazakhstan’s Tengizchevroil (TCO).

Denmark’s Blue Water Shipping led the consortium that won the contract.

Topaz will commission the construction of the 15 module carrying vessels (MCVs), which are expected to commence operations in the second quarter of 2018. The operation component of the contract is expected to last three years.

The latest contract has brought Topaz’s backlog to $1.6bn, the company said in a statement. In March, it signed a contract to supply 14 offshore support vessels to BP in Azerbaijan.

The 123 metre-long vessels, designed in collaboration with Norway’s Vard Shipyard Group, are crafted to navigate shallow river systems as they support modules and cargoes through the Russian waterways to the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan. They will be built in three shipping yards in Romania and Vietnam.

Tengizchevroil explores, develops, produces and markets crude oil, LPG, dry gas and sulphur. Its stakeholders include Chevron (50 per cent), KazMunaiGas (20 per cent), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures (25 per cent) and LukArco (5 per cent).

Topaz secured a $550m conventional and Islamic multi-tranche financing facility in May 2015 to refinance existing debt and fund its expansion plans.

The joint lead arrangers were the UK’s Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC advised by Dentons. Other lead arrangers on the deal include the Gulf International Bank, Emirates NBD, Noor Bank and First Gulf Bank.