Edison Chouest Offshore of the United States and Island Offshore of Norway, through their joint partnership company Island Ventures II LLC, have ordered two 145.7m (478 ft) by 28m (92 ft) offshore construction vessels, one to be built in the US at Chouest’s own shipyard and the other by Ulstein Verft of Norway as the largest vessel built by that facility to date.
The twin ships will be finished to Ulstein’s newly developed SX165 design and will provide accommodation for up to 200 people, with two lifeboats to be carried on each side. Deck equipment will include two cranes that can lift 400 tons and 140 tons, while there will be a large moon pool measuring 11.2m by 12m, plus two smaller moon pools for ROV deployment and operation.
To provide extreme operational reliability, each of the ships will have three separate engine rooms. If a major error occurs, and one of the engine rooms goes out of service, the ship will still have two-thirds of its operational capacity. Delivery is expected towards the end of 2015. JS
