American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has issued an approval in principle (AiP) for the largest semisubmersible crane vessel, OOS International’s LNG-fueled OOS Zeelandia.
China Merchants Offshore Technology Research Center (CM-OTRC), the R&D center for China Merchants Industry Holdings (CMI) of Shenzhen, China, have completed the basic design of the SSCV that, when built, will have the largest lifting capacity in the world, OOS International said in its statement.
Powered by twelve (12) dual fuel engines (MDO and LNG) of 85 MW total capacity and installed in 6 engine rooms for maximum redundancy, the vessel will be fitted with a closed bus DP3 system, aided by high redundancy azimuth and tunnel thrusters.
With a total lifting capacity of up to 25,000 metric tons using two fully-revolving cranes of 12,500 mt each, and with a large clear deck space of over 11,000 square meters, the SSCV is designed to lift and transport a large offshore structure on its own main deck, either for installation offshore in one lift, or for decommissioning in one piece and transporting back to shore for re-use/upgrade or dismantling and disposal.
It is designed to travel at normal economical speed of 12 knots and at a maximum speed of up to 15 knots.
The vessel will have a winterized main deck and will carry ABS ice class A0 notation, making it possible to operate in a first-year arctic ice environment.
CMHI is currently building in its Haimen, Jiangsu yard two smaller vessels of similar design, named OOS Serooskerke and OOS Walcheren, albeit with smaller cranes of 2 x 2,200 mt each. All use OOS’s unique asymmetric pontoon concept, with the main lifting cranes placed on the starboard side, thus making the starboard pontoon larger in order to support the heavier crane load.
OOS has already been operating OOS Gretha, which was the first vessel built to this concept, on a long-term charter for Petrobras in the Brazilian waters.