Offshore Vessel News Roundup | November 13 – Chinese steam injection platform refit, German survey and servicing ships and more

A new AHTS slated for a Saudi operator completes its first sea trials as conversion work wraps up on a steam injection platform to support heavy oil extraction in Chinese waters. Construction continues on new support vessels in Vietnam and China, as German, UK, Norwegian and Japanese customers place orders for new installation and maintenance assets.

Sea1 Offshore orders new offshore energy support vessels

Sea1 Offshore has placed orders for two new offshore energy support vessels from Chinese shipyard COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry.

The vessels will each be 120 meters long and with a cargo deck area of 1,400 square metres. Each vessel will also be fitted with a 250-tonne deck crane, an ROV hangar, a moonpool, and accommodation for up to 120 personnel.

Both vessels are scheduled to be delivered by 2027.

Sea trials completed for new Rawabi Vallianz AHTS

A new anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) ordered by Saudi Arabia-based Rawabi Vallianz Offshore Services has completed its initial series of sea trials.

Rawabi 209 was built by China's Jiangmen Hangtong Shipbuilding in compliance with ABS class rules. The vessel has a length of 64 metres, a beam of 16 metres, a design draught of 3.5 metres, a depth of six metres, and a diesel-electric propulsion system consisting of four 1,350ekW generators and two azimuthing thrusters.

The AHTS will also have Fifi1 external firefighting equipment upon completion.

UK’s Mainprize Offshore orders six additional semi-SWATH crewboats

UK operator Mainprize Offshore has placed orders for six new crewboats in a series to be built by Strategic Marine of Singapore. Like the recently delivered MO10 and MO11, each new crewboat will feature a prominent semi-SWATH catamaran hull design that combines enhanced seakeeping with reduced fuel consumption and emissions.

Penta-Ocean inks engineering LOI with Singapore builder for new heavy lift vessel

Singapore shipbuilder Seatrium, through a subsidiary, has entered into a letter of intent (LOI) with Japan-based Penta-Ocean Construction (POC) to carry out early engineering work for a 5,000-tonne, fully-revolving heavy lift vessel (HLV) that will serve the Japanese offshore wind market.

Subject to the final investment decision by POC, the full engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract award is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.

Chinese testing platform rebuilt as steam injection vessel for heavy oil extraction

China Merchants Jinling Shipbuilding (Weihai) has completed conversion work on an offshore testing platform operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to enable it to be operated as a steam injection vessel.

Haiyang Shiyou 162 (“Offshore Oil 162”) has now been rebuilt and will sail under the name Recai Yi (“Thermal Recovery No 1”), thus reflecting its new role. The platform will be used to inject steam to be used in the extraction of heavy oil from offshore sites.

Construction begins on PSV with secondary emergency response capability

Chinese shipyard Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore and Engineering (CIMC SOE) has begun construction of a new platform supply vessel (PSV) optimised for supporting the operations of offshore oil platforms.

The vessel will have an LOA of 81.75 metres, a beam of 17.4 metres, a depth of 7.8 metres, and a maximum draught of 6.3 metres. An electric propulsion system consisting of lithium iron phosphate batteries and azimuthing thrusters will deliver a speed of 13 knots.

German investment firm expands into offshore services sector with new vessel orders

German investment firm MPC Capital will expand into the offshore wind service vessel sector with the future acquisition of six new offshore survey and service vessels (OSSVs) built for emission-free operations.

The vessels will be built at Esbjerg Shipyard in Denmark. Deliveries to MPC Capital are scheduled to take place between 2026 and 2028 in fulfilment of a €130 million (US$140 million) investment.

OEG Renewables orders crewboat to support operations in Taiwan

UK operator OEG Renewables, a division of the OEG Energy Group, has entered into an agreement with Singapore shipbuilder Strategic Marine for the construction of a new crewboat for deployment in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 27-metre aluminium catamaran vessel, due to be named Wey Feng, will be designed by UK naval architecture firm BMT. It will be the fourth 27-metre vessel built by Strategic Marine to join the OEG Renewables fleet.

Keel laid for Rem Offshore's future subsea construction vessel

Norwegian operator Rem Offshore has confirmed that the keel of its future energy subsea construction vessel (ESCV) was laid during a ceremony held in Vietnam late last month.

Rem Pioneer will be delivered to Rem Offshore in 2026. It will perform heavy construction work for both offshore wind and subsea customers.