Maersk Supply orders six Anchor Handlers at Kleven

OCTOBER 16, 2014 — Maersk Supply Service has placed an order with Norwegian shipbuilder Kleven Maritime A/S for six Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessels with options for four additional vessels.

The 95 m long vessels will be built at Kleven’s two shipyards in Norway, Kleven Verft and Myklebust Verft. They are of SALT 200 AHTS design from Salt Ship Design, which says it has been working closely with Maersk for quite some time to develop the new Anchor Handler design.

The Kleven contract brings the total number of newbuildings on order for Maersk Supply Service to 12 with its order book already including five Subsea Support Vessels and one Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel to be delivered from shipyards in Romania, China and Chile.

“With this contract, Maers Supply Service is once again placing a newbuilding order in Norway, and with this we have taken the next step in our extensive newbuilding program renewing our fleet with focus on large Anchor Handling Tug Supply and Subsea Support Vessels. The contract now concluded with Kleven is an important part of the realization of our ambitious growth strategy,” says Maersk Supply Service CEO Carsten Plougmann Andersen.

The parties have agreed not to discuss the value of the contract, but Ståle Rasmussen, CEO of Kleven, says the order “proves that Kleven is competitive world wide, based on our quality, punctuality and price.”

Main specifications for the new Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessels:

    Length:  95 m
    Beam:  25 m
    Deadweight:  Approx. 4,500 t
    Free deck:  944 sq.m deck area in total, 822 sq.m open deck area
    DP: Class 2
    BHP: 23,000
    Bollard pull: min 230 t

    Winch: 500 tonnes, with a 3 drum configuration
    Configured to accommodate 52 persons in single cabins
    ROV garage
    Design: Salt 200

“With the many advanced, high-end new-buildings being delivered over the years to come, we want our customers to remain confident that we are prepared to deliver on their demands and provide premium service in terms of reliability, safety and uptime. In our new-building project with Kleven, we have carefully designed the entire vessel with this in mind. An example is the installation of the most fuel efficient and flexible hybrid propulsion system with fixed pitch on all side thrusters, providing high reliability and back-up system, good fuel economy, low emissions and excellent station keeping,” says Carsten Plougmann Andersen.

The first six vessels are to be delivered between Q4 2016 and Q3 2017. If all options are declared, the last vessel in the series is to be delivered in Q1 2018.

Kleven says that a number of Norwegian equipment manufacturers and suppliers will contribute to the project, creating value widely across the Norwegian maritime community.