Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. announced today that their Type-0 heavy lift vessel, the Dockwise Vanguard has just finished a contract supporting the repair and maintenance of a semi-submersible drilling rig in the Mediterranean.
Due to the size of the drilling rig and the lack of drydocking facilities in the Med large enough to support, the Dockwise Vanguard was used to lift the vessel clear of the water in order to facilitate the required maintenance and repairs.
Boskalis subsidiary SMIT provided underwater inspection and temporary repairs prior to loading.
The following images are courtesy Dockwise
For Boskalis, this was small potatoes however, considering they successfully delivered the world’s largest semi-submersible rig, the Jack/St. Malo from South Korea to the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year.
In a conversation with Dockwise’s CEO, André Goedée this spring, it’s clear they are looking to book more of these drydocking jobs in the future, for much larger vessels however, such as FPSOs.
Drydocking an FPSO while still in production, would be a significant accomplishment; however, nobody has yet to take them up on the offer.