Shipowner and operator, Swire Pacific Offshore Operations (Pte) Ltd (SPO) celebrated the naming of its first L-Class vessel, Pacific Leader Maizuru Shipyard, Japan last week.
Speaking at the ceremony Managing Director of SPO, Mr Neil Glenn said : “The L-Class series of large PSVs is another important step in the growth and development of Swire Pacific Offshore’s fleet. With a fuel efficient modern design and a high quality, high specification build, we are confident these large capacity vessels will offer our customers an exceptionally reliable, economical and flexible solution to their offshore marine support needs and continue to enhance SPO’s capabilities as a leading maritime services provider.”
Pacific Leader is the first of a series of eight L-Class vessels that SPO has commissioned. Four vessels will be built by JMU in Japan and four vessels in Brazil. Upon its delivery, Pacific Leader will be going straight into a charter contract.
Today, SPO owns and operates a diverse fleet of 85 offshore support vessels, including anchor handling tug supply vessels, platform supply vessels, ice-breaking supply vessels, anchor handling tugs, seismic survey vessels, wind-farm installation vessels, accommodation vessels and multi-purpose offshore vessels. SPO will have a fleet of 100 vessels by the end of 2015.
The L-Class vessels (5258 DWT), with the fuel-saving design, consisting of newly developed fuel efficient propulsion pods, a four-engine diesel electric power plant, large cargo carrying capacity and bulk cargo system, makes them well suited for supply duties in deep water environments. The propulsion system features a computerised power management system that is programmable to ensure the optimisation of the diesel engine load and fuel consumption. The Cargomaxx bulk system allows for the carriage of dry and wet bulk cargoes in 5 separate tanks, uses a pressure vacuum system to load and upload the cargo and has a product weighing system to accurately measure a product delivered as an individual parcel or as an aggregated amount over a period of time. These FiFi 1, DP2 vessels are also SPS Compliant and Clean Class.
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SPO, April 3, 2014