Ships of the Year

SHIPS OF THE YEAR
Rebuilt before
first assignment
Twice in 2008 Esvagt A/S took a brand
new ship halfway across the world
directly from a shipyard to be rebuilt
at the homeport of Esbjerg.
Esvagt and their technical advisors Ole
Steen Knudsen A/S together found it most
suitable to take the newbuildings Esvagt
Caroline and Esvagt Contender directly
from the builders’ yard in Singapore to
Esbjerg to have large fire fighting equipment
added to the long list of features on
the small ships.
“It sounds like a funny thing to do,
sailing the vessel to Europe, but it makes
sense”, explains Ovin Carlsson, CEO of
Esvagt. “It would have disturbed the shipyard’s
production schedule if we had asked
them to make the alteration to the two
ships. The alterations were necessary, as
both were fixed on a charter with the FiFi-I
equipment as part of the terms.”
The rebuilding job was planned ahead of
the arrival of the ship, as the ship started
with a 90-day long trip from Singapore to
Esbjerg. Put in a simple way, a large dieseldriven
pump was installed on the weather
deck on the aft side of the accommodation
house. Furthermore, three monitors
have been added to the boatdeck above the
house containing the diesel-driven pump.
The monitors can spray water at a rate of
up to 3,600 cbm/hour over the stern of the
Esvagt Caroline.
Open for negotiations
“The quick rebuild of the brand-new vessel
shows how flexible we are in Esbjerg. If the
client needs a special feature we are certainly
open for discussions and negotiations
for adding anything special to our vessels.
This goes for hardware as well as software,
like if the client needs special skills from
our crew”, says Ovin Carlsson.
The rebuild of the Esvagt Caroline
and Esvagt Contender was the result of a
requirement from Norwegian contractors.
Both vessels are still in service in the Norwegian
sector on long-term contracts.
The Esvagt C-class vessels from Singapore
are really floating ‘ambulances’that
can help in case of any emergency on
board an offshore installation. Each ship is
capable of carrying up to 300 survivors in
the UK sector, but around 125 persons in
Norwegian waters. They can be accommodated
in cabins or a hospital area. The ships
are also fitted with an operation ward fully
ESvAgT CArOlinE
Built by ASl Shipyard Pte ltd, Singapore,
# 862 for Esvagt A/S, Esbjerg. Delivered on
January 30, 2008.
Class: lloyd’s + 100A1, +lMC, UMS, Firefighting
ship, Ice class 1D.
loa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.8 m
lbp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.2 m
Beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.5 m
Draught . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 m
Depth moulded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 m
No of survivors . . . . 125 (NOR, Dk)/ 300 (Uk)
FiFi I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,600 cbm/hour
Machinery: Main engines 5xCummins type
kT19M, 5 kW each, total output 2,425 kW.
equipped for almost all kinds of surgery and
with equipment to maintain radio contract
with the Danish Radio Medical Centre in
Esbjerg, so the doctors on duty can advise
the crew on board the Esvagt Caroline.
Station keeping
The Esvagt C-class vessels are fitted with
diesel-electric propulsion, which is by far
the best and most flexible when it comes
to station keeping in the waters around
an offshore installation. The ships are fitted
with five main engines, which provide
power for two electric motors coupled to
two azimuth propellers aft and bow thrusters
in the bow area.
The Esvagt Caroline and the Esvagt
Contender are newbuilding numbers five
and six in the series from ASL Shipyard.
The yard will deliver another two units in
2009 and a further two units in 2010.
bent mikkelsen
32 SCANDINAVIAN SHIPPING GAZETTE • DECEMBER 19, 2008
BENT MIkkElSEN