Ulstein books contract for Van Oord rock installer

Van Oord's new subsea rock installation vessel, Bravenes. The ship will be able to operate in depths of 600 m and more

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 — Ulstein has been awarded a design and equipment contract for the subsea rock installation vessel recently ordered from Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group’s Ningbo shipyard in China by Rotterdam headquartered Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors (see earlier story).

Working in close cooperation with Van Oord, Ulstein is responsible for the development and integration of both the mission equipment and vessel design.

To be named Bravenes, the vessel is set for 2016 delivery. It features a DP-3 system, the distinct Ulstein X-Bow hull line and meets the requirements for Clean Design Notation, Green Passport and Ice Class 1A – PC7.

The vessel and its equipment are designed for year-round operability in harsh weather and high-sea states.

Under the contract, Ulstein’s supply will include the main fall pipe deployment system and the majority of the ancillary systems of the SRI (subsea rock installation) tower.

Ulstein says it put a strong focus on simplicity, by mechanizing the systems as much as possible, enabling higher levels of safety and control and minimizing human interaction during the deployment and recovery of the fall pipe. The robust and fully customized system is able to efficiently switch between various rock installation modes and a wide range of rock sizes.

“We started developing a new, innovative fall pipe deployment system in summer 2013 and proved its feasibility by testing a real scale model early this year,” says Arjan Boezeman, Director Sales and Concept Development at Ulstein Idea Equipment Solutions. “It has been engineered to provide best-in-class installation cycle times in water depths up to 600 m and beyond.”

Main dimensions of the vessel are:
Loa 154.4 m
Lpp 147.9 m
Beam (molded)  28.0 m
Depth (main deck)  13.3 m
Draft (design)    8.0 m
Speed             13 kn
Installed power 2 x 3,840 kW
                         2 x 2,880 kW
Positioning DP3
Class Bureau Veritas
Ice class 1A – PC7
Complement 60 persons