Edison Chouest Offshore and Island Offshore are ordering two new OCV vessels through the company Island Ventures II LLC. One vessel will be built at Ulstein Verft, Norway, and the other in the United States.

Constructing at Ulstein Verft
Ulstein Verft has been contracted to build a new offshore construction vessel of the Ulstein SX165 design. This will be the largest vessel built at the yard so far, as well as its largest single shipbuilding contract. The vessel is scheduled for delivery Q3 2015.

“We are very pleased to develop the next generation of offshore vessels together with Edison Chouest Offshore and Island Offshore. They are companies with solid and extensive experience. We have worked very well together on other innovative projects, and look forward to delivering a high-quality product that will serve the ship owners well for years to come,” said CEO Gunvor Ulstein, Ulstein Group.

“This is a demanding and challenging construction project, which suits us in every respect. We have a solid organization that will carry out all the engineering work. Our group can offer world-class yard facilities and designs which attract attention from both crews and ship owners. We are ready, and looking forward to the assignment,” said Kristian Sætre, managing director, Ulstein Verft.

First Ulstein design in the United States
Island Ventures II LLC has also ordered design and engineering packages for the construction of an Ulstein SX165 design vessel at Edison Chouest’s own yard in the United States. In addition, this agreement includes options. This will be the first Ulstein designed vessel to be constructed in the U.S.

“We look forward to adding these vessels to our fleet. The cooperation between our companies is excellent and we look forward to working with Ulstein on the construction of these multifunctional vessels,” said CEO Gary Chouest, Edison Chouest Offshore.

Island Offshore’s current fleet includes four vessels from Ulstein. In addition, a construction vessel for Island Ventures II LLC is currently under construction at Ulstein Verft for delivery in June 2014.

Facts about the vessels
The newly developed SX165 design has many qualities. The vessel is 28 meters wide and 145.7 meters long and can accommodate 200 people. She is equipped with two cranes that can lift 400 tons and 140 tons, respectively. She has a large moon pool measuring 11.2 by 12 meters plus two smaller moon pools with ROVs installed in a centrally located hangar. The vessel has a total of three separate engine rooms to provide extreme operational reliability: if a major error occurs and one of the engine rooms goes out of service, the ship will still have two-thirds of her operational capacity.

Health, safety and the environment have been fully considered in the development of this design. For example, the vessel will be delivered in accordance with the international regulation MLC2006 that sets out the comfort and safety requirements for the crew. The ship has four lifeboats, two on each side. In addition, the vessel is equipped with SCR catalyst system for NOx emission reduction.

ulstein.com