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VIGO, Spain – A floating hotel, or flotel, constructed for Mexican state-owned oil giant Pemex was launched on Tuesday at a shipyard in Vigo, a port in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia, and the energy company said it planned to order a third vessel of the same type in Spain.

“Some details still” must be finalized on the order for the third flotel, Pemex corporate chief of staff Carlos Roa said after the launch of the Reforma Pemex.

Another flotel is being built at the Navantia shipyard in El Ferrol, another port city in Galicia.

“The terms are favorable for both parties and we want to take advantage of the benefits of duplicating a ship. We want three that are the same. That facilitates maintenance, operations and the crews, which can be interchangeable,” Roa said.

The two flotels, ordered in early 2014, will be used to house Pemex personnel working on offshore rigs.

Pemex expects to “close” the deal for the third ship “this very year,” Roa said, adding that the vessel would be built at Vigo’s Barreras shipyard.

Talks have been taking place for months and the two sides have moved closer on the terms, which must take into account the current “complicated” situation in the global oil market, Roa said, adding that Barreras “is our shipyard and will continue to be so for a long time.”

The twin flotel launched on Tuesday, like the two other ships built previously for the Mexican energy company in Galicia, will be used by Pemex Exploracion y Produccion, or PEP.

Regarding the idea that the Mexican energy company might be planning to leave the Galician ports, Roa said such talk was speculation and that “Pemex is here and here we will remain.”

The Mexican oil giant awarded contracts to construct two flotels to Navantia and Hijos de J. Barreras.

Pemex officially took control of Hijos de J. Barreras on Dec. 16, 2013, with the Mexican oil giant purchasing a 51 percent stake in the Spanish shipyard for 5.1 million euros ($7.01 million).

Hijos de J. Barreras and Navantia bid for the flotel contracts as part of a consortium that includes PMI Norteamerica, a unit of Pemex subsidiary PMI Comercio Internacional.

The winning bid was $407 million for the two contracts, which cover construction of two flotels and support services.

Initial estimates had put the cost of each ship at about $190 million.

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