Ulstein Delivers 'Polar Onyx' Offshore Construction Vessel

The offshore construction vessel ‘Polar Onyx’ has been delivered from the Ulstein Verft shipyard and will soon be ready to set sail for Brazil where she will serve as a pipelay support vessel for Petrobas deepwater projects.

The vessel was formally christened during a ceremony at the Ulstein yard in Ulsteinvik, Norway on February 28 and has now been handed over to her new owner, GC Rieber Shipping. The vessel will now head to Huisman’s yard in Schiedam, The Netherlands, for final outfitting.

Polar Onyx will then commence a five year charter with Ceona, with options for up to five more years. The vessel is scheduled to begin work for Petrobas offshore Brazil in May.

Vessel Profile

The ‘Polar Onyx’ is based on ULSTEIN’s SX121 design, which is designed to operate in the SURF/Construction/IRM markets with high capacity for flexible pipe loads.

The vessel is certified by DNV according to Special Purpose Ships (SPS) and Clean Design and carries a Green Passport. She is classed according to DNV, and meets the highest standards for station keeping, redundancy and dynamic positioning (DP3), with additional redundancy for all major components on board.

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‘Polar Onyx’ is powered by a diesel electric plant comprising of six identical 2,740 ekW generator sets, with three thrusters forward and three azimuth main thrusters aft.

The vessel will be further equipped with a 275 tonne vertical lay system (VLS) capable of installing pipeline and umbilicals to water depths of 3,000 meters. Two new high-specification work class ROVs for deepwater flexible pipelay and subsea construction in deep and ultra-deep waters will also be installed.

Commenting on the delivery, Steve Preston, CEO at Ceona, said: “We are delighted with the on-time delivery of the ‘Polar Onyx’. After installation of a new 275 tonnes vertical laying tower [at Huisman] in the Netherlands, she will be immediately used at her full potential in Brazil to deliver safely and efficiently deepwater SURF services to Petrobras through our partnership with Odebrecht [Oil & Gas].”

Gunvor Ulstein, CEO Ulstein Group, added: “ULSTEIN has a complete cycle of expertise in ship design, engineering, shipbuilding and ship investments, specialising in high-quality, advanced offshore vessels for demanding operations world-wide. We have had an excellent cooperation with GC Rieber Shipping in the development and construction process, and we wish the shipowner and contractors all success with the ‘Polar Onyx’.”

Main Features

Overall length: 130 m
Breadth: 25 m
Trial speed: 15.1 knots
Deadweight without VLS tower: approx. 8,200 t
Deck area aft of hangar: 1,700 m2
ULSTEIN X-BOW® hull line design
250 tonne AHC offshore crane
ROV moon pool: 4.9 x 4.9 m
VLS moon pool: 8 x 8 m