Jerry Greenberg
Special Correspondent
The 2012 survey of the worldwide heavy-lift vessel fleet shows that the industry has added several new vessels since the previous survey in 2010. The survey is part of this year's Heavy Lift poster, included in this issue of Offshore. Among the companies indicating new vessels are CIMC Raffles, CNOOC, Saipem, Sea Trucks Group (listed as Offshore Contractors in the 2010 survey), Shanghai Salvage, Tetra Technologies, and Versabar. New companies to the survey are CIMC Raffles, CNOOC, Shanghai Salvage, Subsea 7, and Versabar.
As a result of its purchase of Global Industries in 2011, Technip is also new to the survey. The company purchased 14 vessels from Global Industries, including seven heavy-lift vessels. However, only three – theHercules, Global 1200, and Global 1201 – are listed because they met the criteria for inclusion in Offshore's heavy-lift vessel survey – a crane capacity of at least 100 tons. Technip no longer operates the Cherokee, Titan II, or DLB 264. The final disposition of these units is unknown.
Tetra Technologies' newest vessel is theTetra Hedron. This vessel, plus the Tetra DB-1 and Tetra Arapaho, operate in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The new vessel is 394 ft x 118 ft x 31.5 ft compared with the Tetra DB-1 and Arapaho, which have dimensions of 350 ft x 100 ft x 25 ft. The Tetra Hedron has quarters capacity of 300 compared with 113 for the Tetra DB-1 and 100 for the Tetra Arapaho. Lifting capacity is the largest of the company's three vessels as well. The vessel features a whip hook capacity of 55 tons at 256 ft, auxiliary hook capacity of 385 tons at 246 ft, static main revolving capacity of 1,323 tons at 105 ft, and over stern lifting capacity of 1,763 tons at 105 ft.
Versabar'sVB 10000 is listed as a heavy-lift catamaran vessel with dimensions of 290 ft x 314 ft. The unit is a float over type heavy-lift vessel. It does not have its own crew accommodations due to its design. The unit can operate in water depths of more than 10,000 ft. Its auxiliary hook capacity is provided by four 500 ton blocks with a static main revolving lifting capacity of 7,500 tons. Station keeping is provided by a DP-3 system and an 8-point mooring system for shallower waters.
Saipem's new heavy-lift vessel in this year's survey is theField Development Ship 2, a dynamically positioned multi-purpose construction vessel that measures 600 ft x 106 ft x 48 ft. The first Field Development Ship measures 536 ft x 98 ft x 41 ft. The new vessel can operate in up to 10,000 ft of water, the same water depth capability as the older unit. Accommodations also are significantly larger at 325 for the new vessel compared with 213 for the older unit.
Sea Trucks Group's two new vessels in the 2012 survey are theJascon 28, a dynamically positioned hook up barge, and the Jascon 55, a dynamically positioned construction support vessel. The Jascon 28 is 364 ft x 100 ft x 22 ft, while the Jascon 55 is 256 ft x 66 ft x 21 ft. Crew quarters capacity of the Jascon 28 is 462 persons, while the Jascon 55 can accommodate 172. Each can operate in water depths of more than 10,000 ft.
CIMC Raffles'SSCV#2 is a heavy-lift/accommodation barge with quarters capacity for 618 people. The 451-ft x 265-ft x 128-ft vessel features a static main revolving lifting capacity of 3,600 tons.
Shanghai Salvage has two new vessels in this year's survey, theDa Li Hao and Wei Li crane barges. The Da Li Hao is 328 ft x 125 ft x 30 ft, while the Wei Li is 462 ft x 131 ft x 42 ft. Quarters capacity for the Da Li Hao is 236 and 240 for the Wei Li vessel.
CNOOC brings two vessels to the worldwide heavy-lift fleet, theLan Jing 7500 derrick barge and the Lan Jing 3800 derrick/pipelay vessel. The 787-ft x 164-ft x 67-ft Lan Jing 7500 has accommodations for 300 persons. The 517-ft x 157.5-ft x 41-ft Lan Jing 3800 can accommodate up to 278 workers.
