VESSEL REVIEW | Keyfield Blessing – Malaysian operator to deploy new cable laying barge on overseas projects
Malaysian offshore services provider Keyfield International has expanded into the cable laying sector with the recent acquisition of a newbuild vessel built by Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering of China.
Keyfield Blessing was built as a specialised barge designed to install underwater cables, especially power cables connecting offshore wind farms to the main grids. The vessel can also be retrofitted for laying fibre-optic cables for telecommunications data transfer.
Custom ploughing and positioning equipment
The self-propelled barge has a length of 98 metres (320 feet), accommodation for six crewmembers, and six main engines that each produce 1,000 hp (750 kW). It is also fitted with a DP2 system and is capable of transporting up to 7,000 tonnes of cables on each voyage and laying cables at depths of five metres (16 feet) using a specialised plough.
Keyfield said the vessel is able to sail under its own power while undertaking cable laying jobs at a speed of 600 metres (2,000 feet) per hour.
Initial operations in Middle East
For its initial deployment, the Panama-flagged Keyfield Blessing will be operated under a firm one-year charter contract by China's Dejing Group. The contract can be extended by the charterer by another year via option.
The vessel’s deployment on behalf of Dejing is in Saudi Arabia, where more than 300 kilometres (190 miles) of submarine power cables and more than 110 kilometres (68 miles) of submarine fibre-optic cables will be laid in support of Hengtong Optic-Electric’s Farasan Submarine Cable Project.
Keyfield said the project would link Farasan Island to Saudi Arabia's main electrical grid to ensure a reliable and efficient power supply in line with the expected development of a coral nature reserve situated in the Red Sea.
Keyfield said the barge is the first vessel the company has chartered out on a bareboat basis. As cabling laying is a new venture for the group and the project location is in Saudi Arabia, it was decided to adopt a bareboat charter model as this is expected to reduce operational risks for a new business area while generating steady cash inflow at the same time.
