ANY remaining hopes that the £300m SeaDragon oil rig would be constructed in the region were dashed last night as it emerged a contract has been sealed with Singapore.

After increasing speculation that the oil and gas platform – which would have created 1,000 jobs had it been completed in the North- East – was on its way to the Far East, The Northern Echo learned that the rig will be made in Jurong, off Singapore.

Sembcorp Marine said the rig will arrive in its yard this month, and confirmation came on the day The Northern Echo exclusively revealed that construction of the rig – being bankrolled by part-nationalised bank Lloyds TSB – could cost £110m more in Singapore than in the North-East.

The revelation marked the end of any hopes for the rig’s future in the region, after the initial contract awarded in late 2006 was pulled from the Tees Alliance Group (TAG) in January. A rescue bid from Tyne Tees Rigs (TTR) was rejected, despite two independent assessors saying it was feasible.

Yesterday, Jon Dale, director of TTR, maintained it was not too late for the Government to step in. Last night, he was forced to concede defeat.

Speculation over the rig’s future has intensified since The Northern Echo revealed how John Darlington, executive chairman of Cayman Islands-based SeaDragon, sent an email around board colleagues recommending the TTR bid be rejected to avoid delays in negotiations with Jurong – but sent it in error to Mr Dale.

Last night, TTR – which saw Darlington- based Cleveland Bridge and McNulty Offshore, from South Shields, unite to prepare an eleventh-hour rescue bid – said it would push on with its attempts to force the issue to a Parliamentary inquiry, for the Government, SeaDragon and Lloyds TSB to answer “tough questions” over the issue.

As revealed by The Northern Echo yesterday, through a combination of capital costs, and penalties incurred for time delays, the cost of construction in Jurong is set to spiral by £110m.

As the project’s financier, Lloyds TSB is responsible for providing the loans for the rig to become a reality, and the bank has been held responsible for it being pulled from the Haverton Hill shipyard, in Billingham, deeming it “too risky”.

Last night, Sembcorp said it was delighted to be given the contract for SeaDragon 1, which will be chartered as the Oban B oil rig.

■ CLEVELAND Bridge will turn to SeaDragon to help it meet a claim by workers who were laid off the ill-fated project, the Darlington company affirmed last night.

The GMB union has lodged a grievance claim with Cleveland Bridge, as it claims that the 140 workers who began work on the drilling rig project at Haverton Hill did not receive the necessary 90 days consultation, as required by law, when they lost their jobs.

Cleveland Bridge said it would do everything to secure appropriate money for what it described as the victims of the failed deal.

A spokeswoman said it was already pursuing SeaDragon for a repudiatory breach of contract and would pass the claim on to them.

She said: “There are many victims in this situation which has been created by SeaDragon.

“The only reason the workers have any right to a claim is because SeaDragon is in breach of contract.”

The spokeswoman said Cleveland Bridge was working with the GMB union, with whom it had a good dialogue.