RollDock Takes Delivery of Interesting New Semi-Submersible Heavy Lift Ro-Ro

Rolldock Storm. Photo courtesy FSG

You heard that right… Dutch heavy lift company RollDock B.V. has taken delivery of its newest semi-submersible heavy lift ro-ro vessel from the German shipbuilder Flensburger-Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG).

The Rolldock Storm is the second in a series two 151.5 meter multi-functional specialized carriers known as the “ST” class, which are interesting because of their three modes of loading; Lift on / Lift off, Roll on / Roll off and Float in / Float out modes.

To accomplish this, the Rolldock Storm and recently delivered sister vessel Rolldock Star are equipped with two 350 ton capacity Liebherr heavy lift cranes and a height-adjustable ro-ro ramp with a weight capacity of up to 4,000 tons. The vessels also have the ability to submerge in order to facilitate the loading of cargoes such as dredgers, submarines and various naval craft up to 8000 tons.

The ST class propulsion consists of 2 MAK 9M32 engines with total installed power of 9000 kW, providing for a speed of about 17 knots.

Commenting on the delivery, FSG Chief Peter Sierk commented; “this demonstrates that we are now clearly moving in an extremely demanding and very specialist sector. Ships like this, as well as individual offshore ships, are now the future of FSG and follow on from our successes in the RoRo sector”.

Rolldock Star, which has been in service since January of this year, has already carried a floating pavilion from Amsterdam to Gibraltar, a river cruise ship from Fos to Bordeaux and a submarine rom Kaliningrad to Vietnam. RollDock’s fleet also consists of an two multi-functional heavy lift vessels featuring the three modes of loading, known as the slightly smaller “S” class at 142 meters.

RollDock is also involved in a 50/50 joint venture with a company known as BigLift. The JV, which of course is known as “Big Roll”, expects to take delivery of two new vessels in 2015 which are specifically designed to deliver large and heavy modules. The vessels will be particularly suited for remote arctic locations since they will have Finnish Swedish 1A Ice Class approval. BigRoll also holds the option the two more sister vessels.

More photos of the ST-class:

Unlock Exclusive Insights Today!

Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.

Sign Up