Ulstein Today no 1, 2005 - Ulstein Group

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Bourbon Offshore Norway
“Bourbon Topaz” was delivered to
Bourbon Offshore Norway in February
2005, and its sister vessel “Bourbon
Peridot” will be finished in October.
Contract for two ULSTEIN P105
vessels from Ulstein verft
In the autumn of 2004, Bourbon Offshore Norway signed a contract for the building of two
ULSTEIN P105 platform supply vessels at Ulstein Verft. The first of these vessels, “Bourbon Topaz”,
was delivered in February 2005. The second, “Bourbon Peridot”, is under construction and will
be ready for delivery at the end of October.
When Ulstein Verft signed a contract in September 2004 with
Bourbon Offshore Norway to build an ULSTEIN P105, with an
option for a sister vessel, Bourbon Offshore Norway’s managing
director Jostein Sætrenes said he had great expectations of the
Ulstein design:“The Ulstein Group will now have a chance to raise
the profile of its designs within Groupe Bourbon. We believe that
this will help us to win good projects,” said Sætrenes.
WENT STRAIGHT TO WORK
The contract vessel, “Bourbon Topaz”, was intended for the spot
market in the North Sea. But when the vessel was delivered on
18th February this year it was announced that a contract had been
signed for the use of the vessel. ““Bourbon Topaz” won a job in the
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North Sea with the oil company Apache which operates in the UK
sector, and the vessel was based in Aberdeen until May,” reports
Bourbon Offshore Norway’s market director, Trond Myklebust.
REFITTED FOR NEW PROJECT
In the beginning of May, “Bourbon Topaz” returned to Ulstein
Verft to be converted.
“This was done to modify the vessel for another customer.
The fixed contract that another vessel in the fleet, “Bourbon Hidra”,
has with Statoil runs out in the autumn. By offering “Bourbon
Topaz” with its new technical solutions in its place, Statoil signed us
up for another four years,” says Myklebust. ““Bourbon Hidra” will
instead enter a two-year contract with Shell in Nigeria from July,”
he reports. It took a month to convert “Bourbon Topaz”:
“A number of changes were made, the most extensive of which
was adding two tanks for special products and a catalyser for
environmental reasons. We also added a crash barrier at the front
of the deck, moved the loading and unloading stations to the main
deck, and built a section aft so that it was closed off and just as high
as the rail. And we installed a broadband antenna,” reports the
project manager at Ulstein Verft, Roar Riise.
FIRST NAUT-OSV
“Bourbon Topaz” was the first vessel to be delivered with the
new NAUT-OSV class designation from Det Norske Veritas (DNV).
The class specifications are intended to ensure improved sea views;
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the bridge’s interior and equipment are designed to be optimal
for the operators, both when it comes to navigation and during
offshore operations. All the functions are available to an operator
at only an arm’s length, which improves safety onboard and simplifies
work on the bridge.
BOURBON PERIDOT
In November 2004, Bourbon Offshore Norway exercised its option
for vessel number two, “Bourbon Peridot”:
“When we signed the first contract, Bourbon Offshore Norway was
a new customer for us. We were therefore extra pleased when the
company chose to order yet another vessel from Ulstein Verft. The
fact that an internationally owned, local shipowner wanted to use
our designs in a global market gives us reason to believe that we are
in the process of building up wide-ranging trust in the market,” said
the president of both Ulstein Verft and Ulstein Design, Tore Ulstein,
when the option was exercised.
The hull for “Bourbon Peridot” was built at Maritim-Shipyard Sp.
z.o.o. in Poland and arrived at Ulstein Verft at the end of May.
This vessel is also being fitted with a NAUT-OSV bridge solution.
The vessel will be ready for delivery at the end of October.
”Bourbon Topaz” working in the North Sea
in spring 2005. (Photo: Cato Welle)
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