Jumbo bolsters heavylift fleet
Jumbo Shipping last month confirmed that it has ordered a second new K-class vessel, with an option on a third, to complement its existing fleet. And following engineering studies, the Rotterdambased specialist in oversized and heavyweight cargo transportation said it was upgrading the lifting capacity of the vessels from 1300t to 1500t, enabling them to handle tandem lifts of 3000t and ‘comfortably surpass the capability of other vessels in their class’.
In a statement, Jumbo said this latest investment underlined the company’s long-term commitment to existing and new clients and added that its strategy of continuing fleet re-investment, renewal and development, irrespective of transient economic and shipping market cycles, is proceeding. ‘Safety and reliability are integral parts of Jumbo’s brand ethic, and these latest record-breaking vessels will assume a key role in delivering reliable and innovative service to both international transportation and offshore construction projects for years to come.
The K-class vessels are being built at the Brodosplit shipyard in Croatia. The first vessel is expected to be in active service in the autumn of 2013. The sister-ship will follow some six months later. Their design incorporates Finnish-Swedish ice class 1A and both will be prepared for subsequent DP2 installation to provide multi-role installation support in the offshore sector.
Walking’ jackup keel laid
Keel laying for a large walking jackup barge being developed by Fugro Seacore and Van Oord took place last month at the Neptune Shipyard in the Netherlands, with 50:50 joint venture company Wavewalker BV business managers Jelle Mens and Les Lugg officiating.
The WaveWalker 1 barge, GL certified, measuring 32m x 32m x 4.5m and with a 400t payload, is designed to operate in rough seas, surf zones, beaches and other intertidal locations. It will make its debut in the field later this year carrying out drilling and blasting works for the new Brazilian Suape Outer Channel, a contract recently won by Van Oord.
‘Currently the assembly of the different sections is in full progress,’ said Les Lugg. ‘WaveWalker is an innovative jackup that can be operated in conventional four-legged mode, or as an eight-legged self-contained walking jackup platform, capable of safely operating and bi-directional movement whilst elevated.
This will bring great market advantages when undertaking geotechnical site investigations, drilling, trenching, pipeline and cable laying, blasting and other underwater work.’ Jelle Mens added that the new unit would ‘boost the productivity of a variety of our traditional barge and jackup operations as we can now undertake our drilling and blasting works from a stable platform with the added benefit of relocation without floating’.
Bourbon double
France’s Bourbon Group recently took delivery of the Bourbon Liberty 254, the last vessel to be delivered in its Bourbon Liberty 200 series of 54 AHTSs, and the Bourbon Liberty 301, the first of 20 AHTS vessels that will comprise the Bourbon Liberty 300 series. At a ceremony in late March at the Sinopacific Zhejiang shipyard (above), the Bourbon Liberty 301 was named Bathera Mulia.
Since February 2008, Bourbon has brought 76 Liberty class vessels into service. And the company is continuing to invest, with another 19 newbuild 300s and 15 Bourbon Liberty 150s all due to be delivered by 2014 at a cost of $2 billion.
According to Olivier Daniel, Bourbon newbuilding managing director, the new 300 series vessels are an extension of the 200 design and have the same Class 2 dynamic positioning, main gensets and azimuth thrusters. But the 300 offers more deck space and greater carrying capacity for muds and bulk products. ‘The larger capacity has been developed for the increasing number of clients operating in deepwater,’ explained Rodolphe Bouchet, VP business management for marine services. Bouchet said he expected theBathera Mulia to be deployed in Southeast Asia this summer. MC
Barents business
Dolphin Geophysical’s new purpose-built high-end 3D vessel, Polar Duchess, entered multiinto steady production for TGS under a six-month contract in the Barents Sea last month. The vessel is chartered on an initial three-year time charter from Armada Seismic effective April 2012, with options to further extend the charter for another eight years.
Christened in Vågen, Bergen on 30 March, Polar Duchess (pictured), is rigged with Sercel SSAS Sentinel streamers and capable of towing 14 at 100m separation . Meanwhile, sistership Polar Duke is expected to complete the company’s first 3D multiclient project in Senegal during first half of May.
The vessel will then be relocated to the Barents Sea to start a previously announced 3D contract and is currently marketed in the North Sea region with July availability.
 Loch Roag, pictured nearing completion in Indonesia, is a Norwegian design, Marin Teknikk (MT) 6009L MkII vessel, built by Otto Marine in Indonesia’s Batamec yard and is being marketed for North Sea, Mediterranean, West Africa and Asia Pacific duties. Capable of accommodating 66 people, the vessel is 80m long, offers around 510m2 of deck space and is mainly targeting IMR work. Sister vessel Stril Explorer is reported to have achieved a high level of utilization since Geoships put together a three-year ROV and survey services package for the vessel with Hallin Marine and NCS Survey last year. |
 Solitaire crane upgrade: A new 850t offshore mast crane is being designed and manufactured by Huisman to replace the 300t OMC onboard the giant Allseas pipelay vessel Solitaire. Delivery is scheduled for 1 October at the Huisman production facility in Fujian, China. The new crane, with up to 1600m hook travel single fall, will be equipped with an active heave compensation system on the main and whip hoist to counteract vessel motions when landing heavy loads for subsea production systems in deepwater. The use of a splittable block on the main hoist will allow the number of falls to be adjusted from eight to four without re-reeving. |
Subscribe
