Royal Boskalis Westminster has won contracts, including transporting the West White Rose platform topsides in North America, transport of offshore wind jackets in Europe, and taking the Hermod semisubmersible crane to China to be scrapped, which is due to happen imminently.
Dockwise was awarded a contract by Heerema Marine Contractors to transport the semisubmersible crane vessel Hermod, using the Dockwise Vanguard, from the port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, to Zhoushan, China, where it will be dismantled and recycled at the Zhoushan Changhong International Ship Recycling yard. The loading will take place in the coming days and the vessel is expected to depart shortly thereafter.
Hermod is due to be replaced by a new semisubmersible crane vessel: Sleipnir. Sleipnir will be equipped with two 10,000-tonne cranes and will have a reinforced deck area covering 220m by 102m, making it the largest crane vessel in the world.
The new vessel, which is under construction at Jurong Shipyard, Singapore, is due in service in 2019. Its first contract was won from Noble Energy for transportation and installation of the the Leviathan production platform offshore Israel. It is also contracted by Maersk Oil for the new production and living quarters platforms on the Tyra Future project.
Meanwhile, Husky Oil has contracted the firm's Dockwise business to transport its West White Rose topside from Texas to Newfoundland and Labrador, offshore Canada.
The project, which includes the engineering, preparation and execution of the loading, transport and discharge operation of the topside, is expected to be carried out in 2021. The topside will be skidded onto a large barge, which in turn will be floated onto the semi-submersible heavy transport vessel Dockwise Vanguard that will transport the cargo to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Dockwise has also been contracted by Lamprell Energy to transport 36 jackets from its construction yard in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, to Vlissingen, the Netherlands. The jackets will serve as foundations for the East Anglia offshore wind farm development. Two semi-submersible heavy transport vessels will be deployed for this contract.
Furthermore, Dockwise in partnership with Patriot Shipping received a contract from the US Navy's Military Sealift Command for the transportation of the destroyer USS Fitzgerald. The USS Fitzgerald will be loaded onto the semisubmersible heavy transport vessel Transshelf off the coast of Yokosuka, Japan, and will be transported to the US port of Pascagoula in the Gulf of Mexico. The destroyer was damaged following a collision with a container ship on 17 June 2017. The transport will take place in Q4 2017.