The new offshore construction vessel Island Venture was put through its paces this week during sea trials in Norway, where the vessel is under construction at the Ulstein Verft shipyard.

Island Venture is the first of of two ULSTEIN SX165 OCV design vessels ordered by a joint venture between Norway’s Island Offshore and US-based Edison Chouest Offshore.

The vessel was originally designed to measure 147.5 meter long with a beam of 28 meters, but it was upgraded to 160 x 30 meters after a decision to increase the deck area and the tank capacity. It comes equipped with 140 ton crane with 3,000 meters wire installed, as well as a 400 ton crane that can operate at 4,000 meters depth. The cable for the largest crane weighs 330 tonnes and has a diameter of 125 mm. The vessel also has three moon pools – two for ROVs and one construction moon pool of 12 x 11.2 meters, and can accommodate up to 200 people.

Commenting on the nearly-completed vessel, Ulstein project manager Per Svein Brekke said: “The sea trial has so far gone as expected. Some challenges will always emerge on sea trials, but we are now well underway with the DP tuning. With hard work, further testing and class punch towards the delivery, we will manage to complete our mission. This is the largest ship and one of the most advanced projects so far. I believe we will manage to deliver as agreed thanks to our dedicated employees and suppliers that are currently working night and day to complete the vessel.”

“We lose sight of what is special when we keep on delivering some of the worlds most advanced vessels, but this ship is quite amazing. She is in her own league, so to say,” Brekke added.

Once completed, the Island Venture will be owned by Island Ventures II and managed by ECO.

The second ship in the series is being built at ECO’s LaShip yard in Louisiana and is the first X-bow to be built in the United States.

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