Island Offshore and Rem Offshore Sign Contracts for New Subsea Construction Vessels

Newbuild orders for subsea construction and supply vessels have been placed today by Norwegian shipowners Rem Offshore and Island Offshore.

Having built a dozen ships in the past for Rem Offshore, shipbuilder Kleven Maritime won the 550 million NOK newbuild contract.  This new ship will be a sister ship to the Rem Forza, a Marin Teknikk MT6022 design.

The MT6022 design has a length of 108m and a width of 22m, with accommodation for a total of 110 persons. The ship is equipped with a 250T offshore crane that can work down to 3000m ocean depth, a 7.2m square moonpool, and 3 ROVs (2 Work, 1 Observation).

‘Kleven Maritime and Rem have had a strong relationship for many years, and we are very pleased that they choose Kleven again,’ said StÃ¥le Rasmussen, CEO at Kleven Maritime. Kleven has so far delivered 12 vessels to Rem, and will also deliver a LNG powered vessel to Rem in December this year.

‘We believe the market for this type of vessels will be strong in the future,’ said ship owner Ã…ge Remøy in Rem Offshore. ‘We took delivery of a vessel of the same type from Kleven yard in August 2008, and our experience with this vessel, ‘Rem Forza’, is very positive.’

Choosing a slightly smaller vessel, Island Offshore has contracted Rolls-Royce to design, power and equip an advanced, UT 737 CD-type, subsea construction vessel.

At 96 meters in length, this vessel will be 14 meters shorter than the MT6022 design, will have a 21 meter beam, and accommodations for approximately 70 persons.   Although shorter, the lower length to beam ratio in this design permits the incorporation of a moonpool to allow the launching and recovery of ROVs in harsh conditions.

The versatile UT 737 CD vessel will support the most demanding subsea projects, including constructing and servicing oil and gas wells on the sea bed, up to 3,000 meters below sea level.  Special features of the Rolls Royce design also include a 125 ton heave-compensated crane, and an advanced offshore tower which handles subsea equipment through the moon pool.

Anders Almestad, Rolls-Royce, President – Offshore said: “This high tech vessel will showcase a combination of innovative technology and world-class, energy efficient design. It demonstrates our position as the market leader in high specification offshore vessels and our ability to meet the challenges of the demanding deepwater oil and gas industry.”

The design and fit out of the vessel enables it to perform almost any duty in a deepwater oil field. In addition to supporting subsea operations it can transport cargo to and from offshore oil and gas platforms and act as a rescue and oil spill response vessel.

The vessel will also include a diesel electric propulsion system incorporating four Bergen engines.  These will drive two Azipull thrusters and two side thrusters, which will work in unison with a dynamic positioning system to enable the vessel to maintain position when undertaking subsea activities. A diesel electric propulsion system will significantly improve fuel efficiency and lower the vessel’s emissions.

The Rolls-Royce designed UT 737 CD will be built at STX OSV’s shipyard in Brevik, Norway and is scheduled for delivery in early 2014.

The delivery date for Rem Offshore’s new vessel is set to June 2013.

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