Offshore Vessel News Roundup | January 24 – Ultra-deepwater drillship delivery, Danish cable-layer order and more

Deliveries include an ultra-deepwater drillship that will initially be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico and a hybrid-powered supply vessel for operation in Chinese waters. Two separate customers in Denmark have meanwhile placed orders for a North Sea walk-to-work vessel and a cable-laying ship.

Stena Drilling welcomes new drillship to fleet

Photo: Stena Drilling

Stena Drilling recently took delivery of the drillship Stena Evolution from South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries.

The 233- by 42-metre, ultra-deepwater capable drillship has a DP3 system and can operate in water depths of up to 3,600 metres and drill at depths up to 12,000 metres. Power is provided by six 8,000kW main engines while six ABB 7,400kW generators supply electricity for the various onboard systems.

The vessel is now en route to the Gulf of Mexico for its initial contract, a five-year charter on behalf of Shell Offshore.

Construction completed on Chinese hybrid supply vessel

Photo: China Classification Society

China’s Daishan Haizhou Shipyard has completed construction of a new platform supply vessel (PSV) fitted with a hybrid propulsion system.

Furui 688 has a length of 35 metres, a beam of eight metres, a draught of 2.1 metres, a gross tonnage of 295, and capacity for 90 tonnes of cargo. The hybrid propulsion system has multiple operating modes and delivers a speed of 11 knots and a range of more than 800 nautical miles.

Design work on the PSV was undertaken by Zhejiang Xinhai Ship Design and Research Institute in compliance to China Classification Society requirements.

Esvagt selects Norwegian firm for SOV design project

Photo: HAV Design

Danish offshore support specialist Esvagt has awarded Norway’s HAV Design a contract for the design of a new service operation vessel (SOV) that will serve customers in the offshore wind market.

Under the contract, HAV Design will deliver both the ship design and a large integrated equipment package including the propulsion system, the engines, the propellers, and the positioning system.

The SOV will be the twelfth that HAV Design will develop for Esvagt. Once completed, it will support Vestas’ operations on the Hollandse Kust West VI wind farm site in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.

NKT orders new cable-layer from Norwegian yard

Subsea cable installation company NKT has selected Norwegian shipbuilder Vard for the construction of a new cable-laying vessel.

The vessel will be designed by Salt Ship Design. Delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Construction of the hull will take place at Vard Tulcea in Romania while final outfitting will be undertaken at Vard’s facilities in Norway.


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