The new semi-submersible is currently under construction at China Merchants Yard in Shenzhen and is due for delivery by the end of March 2012. At 222 metres in length and deadweight of 53,500 tonnes, the vessel will be capable of carrying loads of up to 50,000 tonnes.

Dockwise said it will operate the vessel under a management contract in close cooperation with COOEC as part of the Dockwise fleet of semi submersible vessels. Dockwise will be responsible for marketing the vessel and will also be training the permanent crew.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, at the the Marintec convention in Shanghai, Andre Goedee, Chief Executive, Dockwise, said:

“This is an innovative arrangement which brings distinct benefits for both COOEC and Dockwise. COOEC will engage the world’s leading heavy marine transport firm to secure profitable cargoes for their vessel and Dockwise gains access to further, premium, new-build resource for our own clients as demand in the sector moves into rapid growth,” said Andre Goedee, Chief Executive of Dockwise while at the Marintec convention in Shanghai.  “COOEC’s vessel will complement our own fleet capacity during a phase of accelerated offshore project installation and development.”

Photo: Dockwise Yacht Transport's YACHT EXPRESS

Heavy-lift operator Dockwise today announced plans to sell off its yacht transport arm, Dockwise Yacht Transport (DYT), to focus on its core Heavy Marine Transport (HMT), Transport and Installation (T&I) and Logistical Management activities.  Dockwise said in a statement today that will unload the wholly-owned subsidiary to Coby Enterprises Corp in a cash deal that will be completed sometime in the next quarter.

DYT owns three dedicated vessels; Super Servant 3, Super Servant 4 and Yacht Express offering both premium float-on / float-off and lift-on / lift-off yacht transportation services, and the company has long operated independently from Dockwise with little overlap.

“Dockwise is now focused on the Oil & Gas Industry as a dedicated provider of transportation and installation services,” said Andre Goedee, Chief Executive of Dockwise Ltd. “Today’s announcement will allow management within the business to focus exclusively on this task and to reallocate capital to supporting the development of our world-leading business.”

New York-based Coby Enterprises is a marine solutions, transportation and logistics company providing services in domestic and international markets.

“We are excited to get involved in this dynamic and interesting niche in marine transportation,” said Coby CEO, Steven Byle. “DYT clients can look forward to uninterrupted service in the short term, and improved and expanded services as we go forward. The DYT team and vessels crews will stay in place, and there will be no change in routes or schedules. Moving toward the future, however, our plans include an immediate program for renewal and upgrade of the yacht carrier fleet. And we further intend to add new routes and services for our clients in the years to come.”

By Richard Spilman

Taking shape in the Hyundai shipyard in Ulsan, Korea is an engineering marvel. The Dockwise Vanguard, previously referred to as the Type-O design, is the largest and most advanced heavy lift vessel ever built.   At 275 meters (902 feet) long and 70 meters (230 feet) wide, the Vanguard can lift 110,000 tonnes and travel across oceans at 14 knots.  Virtually all of the space on deck is clear and available for cargo, and perhaps most remarkable of all, the ship lacks anything that would conventionally be referred to as a bow.

The Vanguard will have 50% greater lifting capacity and 70% greater deck area than the largest heavy lift ship now in service, the Blue Marlin, also owned by Dockwise, which can lift 73,000 tonnes.   Dockwise currently operates 19 heavy lift ships – the world’s largest fleet of semi-submersible vessels of various sizes and types.

The Vanguard, the Blue Marlin and the rest of the Dockwise fleet are ships designed to carry other ships, drilling rigs or anything else too large or heavy to be easily transported on a conventional ship.  They are semi-submersible heavy lift ships, which is to say that the ships are designed to be ballasted down so that their main decks go underwater, allowing their cargo to be floated aboard. The ships’ ballast tanks are then pumped out, the ship floats higher in the water, lifting its cargo, and is ready to sail wherever in the world the cargo needs to be transported.  In 2008, the Blue Marlin safely carried BP’s 60,000 tonne semi-submersible production rig, Thunder Horse, over 15,000 nautical miles from Okpo, Korea to Corpus Christi, Texas.

The new Dockwise Vanguard will give the firm the ability to transport even larger and heavier cargoes, including entire Floating Production Storage and Offloading units (FPSOs.)  The Dockwise Vanguard is expected to be delivered toward the end of 2012.  Two cargoes have already been booked for the new ship. The first will be carrying the Jack St. Malo platform hull from Korea to the US Gulf of Mexico for Chevron, immediately after the ship leaves the shipyard.  Two weeks ago, a second contract was announced, to carry the Goliat FPSO from Korea to northern Norway.

Dockwise currently has a record backlog, which is fortunate, as the global economic downturn and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which slowed new offshore construction, have both created challenges to Dockwise’s strategic plan.  Recently, Dockwise had to re-negotiate a covenant with its lender syndicate, temporarily waiving the leverage ratio – net debt over EBITDA (Earning Before Interest, Taxes Depreciation, and Amortization) for the period March 2012 until September 2013.  The Dockwise Vanguard is expected to cost roughly $240 million and was financed through debt and a $100 million rights offering.

The past several years have been challenging for company so dependent on transporting drill rigs and other over-sized equipment for the international oil companies.  Dockwise itself has also undergone major changes.

Dockwise was formed in 1993 through a merger between Wijsmuller Heavy Transport and Dock Express Shipping.  In 2001, Dockwise merged with Offshore Heavy Transport.  In 2006, the company was sold to Delphi Acquisition Holding I BV, a private equity investment vehicle of funds managed by 3i Investments.  In 2007 Dockwise merged with Sealift Ltd., another heavy lift operator. Also in 2007, Dockwise acquired two design and engineering companies and was listed on the Oslo Stock exchange.

Dockwise’s revenues have grown steadily, rising from US$ 252 million in 2006 to US$ 478 million in 2009 before leveling off in 2010 to US$439 million.   Earnings, however, have not been as robust.  Earnings in 2006 were US$ 61 million, as compared to US$37 million in 2009 and US$ 17 million in 2010.

Now, as the Dockwise Vanguard nears completion, the question remains – will international oil exploration recover sufficiently to keep Dockwise’s fleet gainfully employed and will the Vanguard give it the competitive advantage in moving the really large cargoes across the oceans of the world?

Dockwise is optimistic.  Andre Goedee, the chief executive, comments, “We have been particularly encouraged by clients’ reaction since we announced this investment decision. It is our expectation based on latest discussions with clients that we will surpass our initial revenue assumptions for the first year of operations. Clients have grasped the game changing potential of the vessel and made a valuable contribution to our thinking around the detailed design.”

Rick Spilman is a writer and naval architect with a background in ship design and operations and a BSE from the University of Michigan. He also earned an MBA at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the host of the Old Salt Blog.

An illustration of the newbuild Dockwise Vanguard courtesy Dockwise

Life is good when you can tranport over 100,000 metric tons.

Heavy lift operator Dockwise today announced that its new-build “Type-0″ super vessel, Dockwise Vanguard, has been booked for its second project, transporting an FPSO from Korea to Norway.  Directly following the transportation of the Jack & St. Malo platform to the Gulf of Mexico in 2013, the Dockwise Vanguard will return to its roots at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea to pick up the Goliat FPSO and transport it to the northern coast of Norway.

“The Vanguard is already adding unique capacity and new flexibility to the Dockwise fleet,” said Dockwise CEO, Andre Goedee.  “This is of particular value for clients with the most challenging assignments. In case of today’s announcement we created an opportunity for the client to optimize the project execution schedule with a flexible and robust solution for the transportation of the Goliat FPSO from Korea to Europe. We consider this another strong endorsement of Dockwise’s decision to invest in a major new-build asset ahead of the surge in demand for Transport & Installation projects in the next decade.”

The Dockwise Vanguard is expected to be delivered in late 2012 from Hyundai Heavy Industries.

The Goliat FPSO will be operated by Eni for oil production of the Goliat field located offshore Northern Norway in sub-arctic conditions. The platform is designed as a fully integrated and enclosed winterized floating production platform (FPSO).

Is it an aircraft carrier?  What about Shell’s massive FLNG facility?  Could it be the Empire State Building?

Actually, it’s none of those…  Upon delivery from Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2012, Dockwise’s new Type 0 heavy lift vessel has been booked to transport the Jack St. Malo platform hull from Korea to the US Gulf of Mexico.  While initially in the form of an intent, the selection of the “Type 0″ vessel now has been confirmed by Chevron, the operator of the Jack St. Malo floating production platform.

“This commitment is a very clear sign that this vessel will rapidly earn its place in the market and, as indicated earlier, has the potential to create a new market of its own”, said André Goedée, Dockwise’s CEO.

Dockwise’s new vessel has been categorized a “Type 0” (T-0) to reflect its exceptional size. With an overall deck size of 275 x 70 meters, and a revolutionary bowless design, the new vessel will have a carrying capacity of more than 110,000 tons.

Via Dockwise

The Bermuda incorporated company, which provides transport services to the offshore, onshore and yachting industries as well as installation services of extremely heavy offshore platforms, wants to be able to hire private security contractors to protect its vessels from hijackings in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

“At this point we are not allowed to protect our employees adequately against pirates, while other nations do allow for added security measures,” Chief Executive Andre Goedee said. Dockwise could be forced to bring its vessels under a different jurisdiction and flag–and regulations–if the Dutch government doesn’t act quickly, he added.

Dutch law currently doesn’t allow for armed private security companies to be contracted.

“Dockwise makes an urgent appeal to the Dutch government to pro-actively seek an effective solution to the problem of vessel protection, including the ability to contract adequate private security,” it said in a statement. “Dutch vessels must be able to offer the same level of security to employees and clients as those vessels that sail under flags of other nations.”

A spokesman for the Dutch ministry of defense said it was studying a possible solution. However, Dockwise said it couldn’t wait for the outcome of a study.

The Indian Ocean waters have become dangerous in the past two to three years. Somalia, a war-torn nation on the horn of Africa, is the seedbed for a flourishing piracy trade. Young men with few prospects set off in skiffs in search of cargo ships and other targets to hijack in exchange for ransoms, often paid by insurance companies.

Current and former naval officers note that the international task forces operating in the Indian Ocean have to cover an area three times the size of the Gulf of Mexico with about 30 ships.

“At present, there are marine ships from countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, India or Russia patrolling in the Gulf of Aden, but this is by no means enough to cover the growing area in which the pirates operate,” Dockwise spokesman Fons van Lith said.

According to data on the International Maritime Bureau website, Somali pirates have been involved in 139 incidents since the start of the year, including 21 hijackings and the taking of 362 hostages. Currently, there are 26 vessels and 522 hostages held by Somali pirates.

Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S (MAERSK-B.KO), owner of the world’s largest container-shipping company Maersk Line, last month said it had to raise its fees following higher costs stemming from a jump in piracy. Maersk ships are forced to sail faster and longer to prevent hijackings and crews receive doubled salaries as compensation for the added work.

Dockwise, whose shares are listed in Oslo and Amsterdam, said that due to its freight, it is unable to sail at faster speeds.

And Van Lith said that as an oil and gas service provider, Dockwise is vulnerable to pirate attacks as its cargo, such as oil platforms, are expensive. At the same time, Dockwise vessels have low entry points, making them easier for pirates to gain entry.

The company hadn’t yet decided under which flag it would sail if it relinquishes the Dutch flag, said Van Lith.

At 0939 GMT, its shares in Amsterdam traded down EUR0.31, or 1.6%, at EUR18.87.

-By Anna Marij van der Meulen; Dow Jones Newswires

Wärtsilä has been awarded the contract to supply a total propulsion package for Dockwise’s new “Type 0” semi-submersible heavy lift vessel. With capacity of more than 110,000 metric tons and deck size of 275 x 70 meters, the new “Type 0″ vessel is the largest ship of its type ever to be built.

Wärtsilä will supply the “Type 0″ with two Wärtsilä 6L38 engines and two Wärtsilä 12V38 engines for the ship’s main propulsion, and one Wärtsilä 6L20 auxiliary engine. Wärtsilä will also supply the reduction gear system, two controllable pitch propellers, two retractable thrusters and one bow thruster.  The equipment has been ordered by Hyundai Heavy Industries, who is building the new “Type 0″, and is scheduled to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The unique design of the vessel represents a new generation in heavy lift transport ships. It is an entirely fresh concept that is capable of transporting complete Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) units for the offshore industry.

Dockwise Shipping BV currently operates a fleet of 19 semi-submersible heavy transport vessels, which is the largest and most versatile fleet of its type in the world.

Image: Dockwise “Type 0″ Super Vessel courtesy Dockwise Shipping BV

Dockwise Ltd, one of the most capable heavy lift contractors in the world, has signed a major deal with Seadrill to provide transport services for their global fleet of drilling rigs.  Please see the press release from Dockwise Ltd below:

Breda, The Netherlands, 1 April, 2011, Dockwise Ltd., today announces that it has entered into a Master Service Agreement (MSA) with Seadrill Management AS to provide for the transportation requirements of all relevant rigs operated by the Seadrill group, including its subsidiaries.

The MSA provides a framework for all future contracts, standardising and simplifying the booking processes, with associated efficiency savings. The framework will leave only the commercial issues which vary according to which drilling rig is to be transported and voyage, such as prices, demurrage and additional services, to be negotiated for each individual transport.

Seadrill presently has a fleet of 47 drilling units, including semi-submersibles, drill ships, jack-ups and tender rigs, with a further 12 on order and under construction. During the last three years, Seadrill recorded 11 jack-up and five tender rig transports of which six were carried out by Dockwise.

The MSA takes immediate effect, and the first likely transport governed by this arrangement is scheduled to commence during this coming summer when Mighty Servant 1 will transport Seadrill’s 28,000 tonne jack-up drilling rig; West Elara from Singapore to Norway.

Andre Goedee, Chief Executive, Dockwise, said:

“We are pleased to sign this ground-breaking agreement with Seadrill, one of our long-standing and highly valued clients. With a globally operating fleet, Seadrill has a year-round requirement for our services. Dockwise is to provide Seadrill with its professional transport service standards under an agreement which will also deliver valuable efficiency gains for our client. The size of the Dockwise fleet and the associated planning flexibility has hereby played an important role.”

Breda, The Netherlands Following the Board’s decision, announced in November 2010, to commission a new build vessel to service the emerging market for ultra-large transports, Dockwise has appointed Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) of Korea as its ship building yard. HHI is scheduled to deliver the vessel during the last quarter of 2012, following sea trials, when it is intended to undertake its initial commercial voyage.

The new vessel has been categorized a “Type 0” (T-0) to reflect its exceptional size. Hitherto, the largest class of vessel has been Type 1 with cargo capabilities between 41,000 and 73,000 tons and of which Dockwise, as only provider in the market, already has two in service. With an overall deck size of 275 x 70 meters, and a revolutionary bowless design, the new vessel will have a carrying capacity of more than 110,000 tons. It will be the first of its kind in service in the maritime transport industry, and will add a unique capability to the Dockwise fleet, maintaining its leadership position at the top of the market.

The specification of the T-0 is subject to further detailed design engineering, as Dockwise consults with clients and HHI offshore division engaged in fabricating the next generation of modular units. HHI’s flexibility in new build design, together with its track record of on-schedule delivery and budget discipline, were key deciding factors in the award of the contract. The total cost of the vessel including all project and design costs, is expected to be approximately USD 240 million, with installments of approximately 45% in 2011 and 55% in 2012. The investment is fully financed by the successful rights issue and revolver debt facility Dockwise completed end 2010.

André Goedée, Chief Executive, Dockwise, said: “We have been particularly encouraged by clients’ reactions since we announced this investment decision. It is our expectation, based on latest discussions with clients, that we will surpass our initial revenue assumptions for the first year of operations. Clients have grasped the game changing potential of the vessel and have made a valuable contribution to our thinking around the detailed design.

Hyundai is the partner of choice for our new build vessel, designed to transport the next generation of ultra-size units. Hyundai’s performance-to-budget and delivery records provide the reassurance we seek that the vessel will be available at the agreed loading date for its first assignment.”

C.J. Kang, executive vice president and COO of Hyundai Heavy Industries, said: “As EPIC contractor for offshore projects, we agree strongly with Dockwise that there is a rapidly emerging need for a vessel of this capacity, given the scale growth of offshore projects. The benefits for our ultimate clients of dry transports of integrated structures and of large FPSOs are clearly apparent to yards and offshore services firms focused on the future evolution of our markets. As a top class offshore construction yard we are proud that Dockwise has chosen HHI for the construction and timely delivery of this vessel.”

[Pictured: Dockwise new "Type 0" super vessel with estimated lift of 100,000 metric tons. Source: Dockwise]

Source: Dockwise

From mega-yachts to mega-rigs, Dockwise is the company most often called when vessels need to be moved long distances at sea but with offshore projects growing in size even the company’s largest heavy lift ship, the Blue Marlin, is not big enough to carry the latest generation of production rigs. For this reason Dockwise has announced their plan to build a “Super Vessel SGM” capable of lifting more than 100,000 tons of steel and a decksize of 275 m x 70 m.

The vessel will join Allseas in a vision of growth offshore and the need to build a new larger generation of heavy lift ships. André Goedée, the company’s CEO tells us:

The developments in deeper water show a clear trend towards larger structures, be it semi-submersible drilling or production platforms, TLP’s, SPAR Buoy structures or FPSO’s. This new vessel will be larger than the Blue Marlin and a first for the maritime transport industry. Our business rationale for proposing this new build vessel is based on current trends for upcoming projects in the Oil & Gas industry, which indicate that there is a need for this type of larger vessel.

Technical information on the new ship is sparse but it has been confirmed that the vessel will have an open stern design and be optimised for both speed and stability during ocean voyages.