Bergen Group Shipbuilding specialises in sophisticated purpose-built offshore vessels (ROV, OCV , DSV, PSV) and unique RoPax vessels for the international market. Its order backlog as of the end of June 2011 was NOK5.2 billion, compared with NOK4.7 billion as the same time a year earlier.
Bergen's shipbuilding business consists of three outfitting yards: Bergen Group BMV, Bergen Group Fosen and Bergen Group Halsnøy, in addition to Bergen Group Landskrona, which is engaged in hull construction and steel fabrication. The hulls are built abroad by skilled suppliers, and thereafter the vessels are fully equipped at specialised shipyards in Norway.
Bergen Group BMV, previously known as Bergen Mekaniske Verksted, was established in 2002. It operates two shipbuilding yards where the vessels are distributed according to size and capacity. It has a large floating dock, a 100-metre dry dock, 600 metres of piers of varying depths, flexible crane capacity, as well as workshop facilities, a cleaning terminal, a test terminal for motors, and a well-equipped tool and machine park.
Project 166 is a ROV/offshore construction ship that will be equipped by Bergen Group BMV. The ship is 111 metres long and 24 metres wide and will be used as a DPII ROV/offshore construction ship. The vessel will be equipped with cranes and necessary special equipment so that it can be used for a wide spectre of underwater activities. The ship will be delivered to Fugro in the second quarter 2011.
Bergen Group Fosen is a modern international shipyard seated at Rissa, close to the entrance to the Trondheim fjord, Norway. Bergen Group Fosen has been involved in shipbuilding since 1918. Presently 450 people work at Bergen Group Fosen, of which 250 are employees at the yard.
Fjord Line has signed a contract with Bergen Group Fosen to build two new cruise ferries. The ships will be delivered in spring an autumn 2012. Both of the vessels will have a deadweight of 4,000 tonnes, and a total length of 170 metres. The two ultra-modern ships will offer approximately 300 cabins, of which a large proportion will be suites, and will be able to accommodate approximately 1,500 passengers. The vessels will have capacity to carry 600 cars, or a lower number in combination with larger trucks and cargo.The design work is done by is by Bergen Group ShipDesign and Bergen Group Fosen. The hulls will be built at the Polish shipyard Stocznia Gdansk.
Havyard Group
The Havyard Group is part of the strong maritime cluster on the west coast of Norway, which has specialised in state-of-the-art offshore and fishing vessel technology. A fully integrated shipbuilding enterprise, Havyard offers ship design, shipbuilding, ship equipment and systems and service to sailing ships worldwide.
Havyard Ship Technology (HST) – department Leirvik is located at the mouth of Norway's longest fjord, the Sognefjord. Its covered dry dock is 130 metres long and 20 metres wide. Its height is 25.5 metres, and it has a crane capacity of 100 tonnes. In addition to the expertise at its own yards, HST has a long-term co-operation involvement with Cemre Shipyard in Turkey.
Havyard Group has signed soon a contract with the Indian shipping company Global Offshore for delivery of a platform supply vessel (PSV), including an option for one further vessel. The two vessels would be number 13 and 14 of the Havyard 832 design. The contract is valued at around NOK500 million (US$80 million).
The first ever ship of a Havyard design built for Chinese shipowners was launched in Shanghai in October. The anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel is of an 843 design and was launched at Yuexin Shipbuilding. The AHTS will be named 'Kan Tan 225' and is built for the Chinese shipowners Shanghai Offshore Oil Shipping.
Developed by Havyard Design & Engineering, the 843 CD is the company's next-generation AHTS, developed for future needs and in line with requirements for such vessels. There is great emphasis on stability, safe operations and efficient and building friendly solutions with competitive building and operational costs. The ship is equipped with a new anchor-handling winch concept providing safer and more efficient operations.
The Havyard 843 CD AHTS is 81 metres long with a breadth of 19.5 metres and a draught of 8.5 metres. It boasts a speed of 17 knots , and a bollard pull of 200 tonnes, with accommodation for 34 persons.
Oresund DryDocks was renamed from former Öresundsvarvet after its parent company Oresund Heavy Industries purchased the facilities and inventories of Landskronavarvet from Bergen Group. Through this purchase, the company is now in possession of 180,000 square metres of industrial land, including 70,000 square metres of workshops, assembly halls and office facilities.
The overall strategy is to expand ship repair and maintenance activities through increased docking capacity. The first step has been taken this year through the purchase of a floating dock measuring 165 by 28 by 8.5 metres with a lifting capacity of up to 12,000 tonnes. The floating dock is scheduled to be operational during the autumn. Future plans also involves establishment of a new larger dry dock, something that is possible on the new land purchased last year. Furthermore, the assembly halls and equipment provides significant opportunities for large steel constructions for the shipping and offshore (as well as shore-based) markets.
The company has started a new subsidiary, Oresund Steel Construction, to operate at the new facilities. The first major contract is now in production, a floating measurement station for verification of future sites for offshore wind-farms. The platform is to be delivered in early 2012 to Marcon, which has a contract with EOn to carry out the measurements. Investments have been made at the facility in recent years for the upgrading of the existing dock gate and its sealing system, pump units and an azimuth pit. At present upgrading works are ongoing on the main repair quay and its two cranes.
Even though the shipping business is still suffering from the economical downturn, the number of dockings and repairs has been good at Oresund DryDocks during 2010 and 2011. The dry dock has been fully booked more or less all the past year and the company has a positive outlook regarding bookings for the next six months.
Conversions have also risen during the past year. Oresund has completed the installation of an internal ramp on Stora Enso/TransAtlantics vessel 'TransPulp', an ROV hangar and auxiliary equipment on 'Njord Viking' as well as stern conversions on three Swedish icebreakers. The company also carried out a major retrofit on the cable-laying barge 'EB32' for Nexans in the beginning of this year. The conversion involved installation of four POD units among several other tasks, converting it from an anchor-controlled to self-propelled barge.
At present the company is undertaking the conversion of Tarbit Shippings' 'Bit Viking' from fuel oil to LNG propulsion. This is a project contracted by Tarbit Shipping to Wärtsilä and it is the first such conversion of an existing ship in the world. The work includes installation of LNG storage tanks, LNG/NG piping, rebuilding of the engines from 46-type to DF50-type as well as rebuilding and installing several auxiliary systems. Both Oresund DryDocks and Oresund Steel Construction are involved in the work as subcontractors to Wärtsilä and Tarbit Shipping.
Marieholms Mekaniska Verkstad
Marieholms Mekaniska Verkstad (MMV) was founded in 1984, in the midst of the largest crisis the shipbuilding industry has ever seen, with the aim to offer small and medium-sized Swedish and foreign companies technical management and maintenance, repair and alteration service.
The company works in the tanker, dry cargo, offshore, ferry and cruise ship sectors. It specialises in steel, plumbing, mechanical work and, in co-operation with suppliers, turnkey solutions. MMV offers services in building, conversion, repair work and maintenance to all industries, but mainly to the marine one. They are a subcontractor working for shipyards around the world doing mainly steelwork but also machine installations.
In 2010, MMV completed repairs on 'Al Hurreya 2', a RoRo ferry built in Egypt by 2007 and operated by Al Fahel Shipping. The 6,540GRT vessel measures 140.00 metres in length overall, 24.00 metres in moulded breadth and 6.90 metres in moulded depth. MMV's contract consisted of renewal of hydraulic cylinders on upper cargo lift. The supplier of equipment was TTS Ships Equipment. The work was performed at the Maersk quay in Algeciras, Spain.
The company has about 70 employees, including steelworkers and welders. The company has responded to the economic crisis by branching into infrastructure projects, such as railroads and bridges, as it waits for the shipbuilding industry to recover. It currently does not have any contracts in shipbuilding.
Krasimir Krastanov
