Sinopacific busy on first Chinese-designed export OSV

China’s Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group is busy on a series of offshore vessels for delivery to Paris-headquartered Bourbon under a $1billion framework agreement signed in June, 2010. Significantly, production includes the first Chinese-designed offshore service vessels to be ordered by an export customer.

The SPA 80 is a small AHTS (anchor handling tug supply) vessel fully designed by Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group. design team. The “SPA 80” designation stands for “SP” (SinoPacific), “A” (AHTS) and “80” (80 mt bollard pull). Currently, there are twenty of these vessels on order. Other available Sinopacific-designed OSVs are the SPP 17 PSV, SPP 35 PSV and SPU 1000 Utility.

The SPA 80 has been designed to provide a number of advantages over existing vessels in the same category. It embodies Sinopacific’s concept of “Load-To-Value” that evaluates a ship’s value in terms of factors such as safety, eco-friendliness, load capability and lower fuel consumption and etc, in a comprehensive way.

SPA 80 takes safety and reliability as the main objectives. Sinopacific says that the propulsion configuration, which includes three main generators, stern and bow thrusters with Dynamic Positioning Class II, provides exceptional maneuverability and station keeping capabilities, even in adverse weather conditions.

Sinopacific reports that ship model tests show that compared to the existing vessels in its size category, SPA 80 has reduced the running resistance by about 13 percent and reduced fuel consumption by about 25 percent thanks to a modern diesel electric propulsion system, and an optimized bulbous bow and hull line. SPA 80 also provides more than 30 percent additional cargo capacity by placing the engine room above the main deck rather than in the conventional under deck location.

For improved environmental protection, the SPA 80 is designed with all the fuel oil tanks protected by a double shell and bottom. It holds both the BV “Clean Ship” and “Oil Recovery Ship” class notations.

SPA 80 Main Particulars:
Length overall : 65.75 m
Breadth mould : 16.00 m
Depth mould : 6.00 m
Design Draft : 4.30 m
Max Draft : 5.07 m
Generator power: 6,000 ekw
Deadweight : 1,800 mt
Service speed : 12.00 knots
Bollard pull: 80 mt

January 26, 2011