Antwerp-based specialist in marine heavy lift operations, Scaldis Salvage & Marine Contractors NV, have ordered a self-propelled DP2 crane ship from Royal IHC.
The Contract for the construction and delivery of the ship was signed on 29th January 2015.
The design was drawn up in-house in cooperation with Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam, part of Royal IHC. Delivery is scheduled for spring 2017 in Europe.
The vessel will be built under full responsibility and coordination of Royal IHC in Qidong and finished in Xiamen, both of which are located in China.
According to Scaldis, the 108 meter long ship is ordered to further support and expand the services, including the installation of offshore infrastructures and decommissioning-deconstruction activities for the oil and gas industry as well as the installation of offshore wind farms. The ship can also be used for any type of marine related heavy lifting work in challenging situations, such as the construction of bridge components and clearing subsea obstacles.
The provision of a helipad in combination with accommodation for 78 people means Scaldis is capable of providing a varied range of additional services.
A few specific characteristics make this new crane ship unique in its field. It has two Huisman cranes each with a lifting capacity of 2,000 tons, based on a design by Vuyk. The ship also has extra carrying capacity of 3,000 tons. The cranes can be moved by 25 m on the ship. This allows the deck to be used to transport and then relocate cargo at a later stage.
The ship and the cranes are an integrated design which allows the maximum load to be hoisted in significant wave heights of up to 1.5 m. In these circumstances, the freeboard is not less than 3 m anywhere on the vessel. In standby or transport modes, significant wave height can be as much as 7.0 m. It is also worth noting that the maximum load can be lifted in water depths of around 5.0 m.
The four azimuth thrusters and the DP2 system allow installation work to be conducted in deeper water without the use of anchors. This guarantees flexibility and efficiency and also means that work can be carried out in zones where many pipelines and cables already lie on the bed, for example. The crane ship is also equipped with 4 main working anchors and winches and 4 secondary devices.
The ship will be equipped with a so-called ‘moonpool’ for the purposes of operating a separate ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) for inspecting and supervising installation work on the seabed.