Ulstein Today no 1, 2005 - Ulstein Group

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ULSTEIN P105 under construction at Merwede Shipyard
First Ulstein designed vessel
being built at external yard
On 23rd May, an ULSTEIN P105
platform supply vessel for
Solstad Offshore was launched
at the Dutch Merwede Shipyard.
The schedule and construction
process of the first build of an
Ulstein design built by a non
Ulstein Group shipyard has
gone completely to plan.
“We have received good feedback from
both the yard and the shipowner, and we are
pleased that it was this precise shipyard that
would constitute the ‘test bed’ for building
an Ulstein design externally,” says project
manager Rolf Olsen Husø of Ulstein Design.
“The reason why the cooperation has worked
so very well is that this is a well-functioning
yard with its own design department. They
are used to building a wide range of vessels
and tackling any challenges,” he continues.
LONG TRADITIONS
Merwede Shipyard was established as early
as 1902. It is more than 20 years since they
built a platform vessel. That time it was for
the Dutch shipping company Smit Holland. In
the last few years the yard has, among other
things, built dredgers, ferries and passenger
vessels. The ULSTEIN P105 vessel now under
construction is the first one the yard has not
designed itself.
All of the supporting drawings for the
vessel were delivered by Ulstein Design,
which is also delivering an extensive package
of equipment for the new offshore vessel.
“As part of the equipment delivery,
Ulstein Elektro will deliver navigation and
communications equipment, ULSTEIN COM,
consoles and panels. Ulstein Elektro will be
responsible for starting up and testing the
equipment, while Merwede Shipyard will
perform the actual installation,” says Frode
Vik, who heads the marine electronics department
at Ulstein Elektro. The company is
a subsidiary of the Ulstein Group. Shipowner
Solstad’s project manager, Odd Nordam,
says that when the equipment package is
determined in advance, Merwede Shipyard
“Normand Aurora” was launched at Merwede Shipyard 23rd May.
avoids having to deal with a variety of
suppliers. “This saves the yard both time
and work,” he explains.
LARGE PLATFORM VESSEL
Solstad will receive a vessel that will be
almost identical to “Far Symphony” which
Ulstein Verft built for Farstad Shipping
in 2003. This was the first ULSTEIN P105
vessel. This is a relatively large platform
supply vessel, designed to carry a cargo of
almost 5,000 tons, 2,840 tons of which as
deck cargo. The vessel is 86 metres long and
has a diesel electric propulsion system.
Merwede Shipyard has also been in close
contact with Ulstein Design and Ulstein
Verft, both prior to and during the
construction of the new ULSTEIN P105
vessel. Ten employees from Merwede
Shipyard visited Ulstein Verft last autumn to
observe the construction of “Bourbon
Topaz”, another vessel of the same design
that was delivered to Bourbon Offshore
Norway in February.
“It has been very important for Merwede
Shipyard that Ulstein Design is part of an
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active shipyard environment. There are
examples of design companies that are
located in different environments, and that
is not good,” believes Merwede Shipyard’s
project manager, Peter van der Poel.
CLOSE COOPERATION
“It is important to us that we know Ulstein
Design does not stand alone,” he continues.
“They work closely with their own yard
from which they receive feedback all the
time. In this way a design can evolve in
line with the yard’s suggestions and
requirements.”
Ulstein Design’s project manager is looking
forward to future projects:
“Given the very good experience we have
now had of building an Ulstein design at
another yard we are looking forward to
the next project. There is a great deal of
interest, and we believe that we will be
involved in new external projects in the not
too distant future,” says Rolf Olsen Husø.
”Normand Clipper” converted
At work in the pipelaying market
In December last year, Ulstein Verft was awarded a contract to convert Solstad’s
cable-layer “Normand Clipper” to a pipelaying construction vessel. At the end of May,
the vessel left Ulstein Verft for work in the UK sector.
“Normand Clipper” at Ulstein Verft, one week before delivery 27th May.
“The conversion work was on a par with
building a new platform supply vessel and was
completed in five months. The first couple
of months were spent on small jobs such as
removing onboard equipment, cutting away
the hangar and building sections. In February,
the vessel was put into the drydock and work
could start in earnest,” says Lidvar Lillerovde,
the project manager at Ulstein Verft.
FITTED FOR CONSTRUCTION WORK
The vessel previously housed a crew of 70,
but more people are needed for construction
projects: “We extended the superstructure
backwards and added extra cabins, as well as
an ROV hangar (hangar for remote controlled
minisubs), an ROV control room, office and
meeting room. There is now room for a crew
of 102. We also installed new lifeboats and
davits,” says Lillerovde.
“A moon pool was installed in the deck for
submerging equipment for subsea operations.
A dynamic positioning system (DP) is required
for such operations so that the vessel can
remain in position in all conditions. The vessel
already had a DP2 system, which has now been
upgraded, and the DP consoles were moved
to the aft bridge. A manoeuvring console was
also installed aft for complete control.
A Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), which
receives data from all the onboard
machinery, was installed on the bridge.
THE VESSEL IS BROADER AND STRONGER
Ulstein Verft installed a crane column for
a 250 ton, heave-compensated offshore
crane and prepared the port side for the
crane. A new transformer and panel room
that provides the power supply for the
crane was also installed. The 25 ton crane
that was previously installed on the port
side was moved to the starboard side and
upgraded so that it can reach down to 500
metres. The vessel’s beam was increased by
3.6 metres thanks to the installation of side
tanks on each side.
“The increased beam is needed to provide
space for space-demanding deck equipment,
though it also helps to compensate
for the redistribution of weight that occurs
when the new crane swings out over the
side. About 1,300 tons of new steel were
added to the vessel,” reports Lillerovde.
“The working deck has to withstand a full
load of pipes and equipment: we halved
the rib distance and strengthened several
decks. The deck strength was increased
from 3 to 10 tons per square metre.”
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WENT STRAIGHT INTO WORK
After the conversion the vessel sailed for
Newcastle to mobilise for four projects for
Technip Offshore.
“Three of the projects are in the UK sector
and involve laying umbilicals and flexipipes.
The main project involves laying the
main umbilical from Melkøya, off the
coast of Hammerfest in Northern Norway,
to the Snøkvit field,” says Captain Erling
Sandviknes. He explains that umbilicals
are cables that supply subsea installations
with hydraulics, fibre optics and electricity,
among other things, while flexipipes are
used to move gas and oil between seabed
installations.
“We will finish these jobs in August
and install the 250 ton crane. From
1st November we have a 180 day contract
with Clough Ltd. to lay flexipipes off the
coast of India. The contract contains an
option to extend the contract for up to five
years, but we also consider other possible
projects after the fixed period. During the
next three years several interesting pipelaying
and construction market projects
will be awarded, and we will be actively
competing for these,” promises the captain.
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