At the end of July 2017 Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf (Oranjewerf) bid farewell to VOS Start, Vroon BV’s first DP2, subsea-support, walk-to-work (W2W) vessel.
The 80m VOS Start arrived at Oranjewerf on 1 June from her build yard in China for the installation of a motion-compensated gangway system – the first of its kind – by Barge Master and Bosch Rexroth, the extended installation of a Kongsberg reference system (including a ‘windfarm module’), and an active heave-compensated crane from SMST.
In the eight weeks that she was in the yard, the vessel also underwent a wide range of other upgrades and preparations for her first charter.
VOS Start is the fourth in a series of new vessels for Vroon that they have brought to Oranjewerf for finishing off following their initial build in China. However, this is the first time that Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf and Vroon have worked together on a W2W vessel and, with Barge Master and SMST both Dutch companies, it was logical to do the final installations in the Netherlands with all the necessary expertise and support close by.
Other local specialist suppliers also contributed to what has been, owing to the W2W element, the most complex upgrade yet for a VOS subsea support vessel at Oranjewerf.
