DUTCH heavy-lift specialist Jumbo reports that the latest addition to the fleet, the 144m Fairplayer, has recently arrived at Huisman, in Holland, to have a pair of 900-tonne cranes fitted.
The vessel was delivered by Damen’s shipyard in Romania at the end of August on completion of successful sea trials in the Black Sea.
In line with Jumbo’s stated intention of moving into the offshore installation market, the vessel is fitted with DP2 position-holding systems and will have an offshore lifting capacity of 1,100 tonnes. It will be capable of installing weights in excess of 250 tonnes in water depths to 2,500m, so will be able to cope with many deepwater developments currently planned or likely to come forward over the next decade or so.
Externally, Fairplayer differs little from her sister ship, Jumbo Javelin. They each measure 144.8m length overall by 26.84m breadth, and have some 3,100sq m of heavy-duty deck space. Below-deck cargo-hold capacity is some 22,000cu m. At a draught of 8.1m, the new vessel’s deadweight capacity is 12,650 tonnes and her service speed is 16.5 knots.
Fairplayer incorporates a number of internal improvements over Javelin, notably in the context of electrical systems. Mid-November should see the maiden voyage of Jumbo’s new giant. The contract involves the shipment of very large equipment from the Mediterranean to the US Gulf. Mv Fairplayer will be deployed in both shipping and offshore installation projects.
Eventually, the J-class fleet will comprise four vessels, of which two will have DP2 capability, enabling them to be used for the installation of subsea manifolds, templates and for the installation of mooring systems for floaters such as FPSOs.
On the offshore support-vessel front, new tonnage has been ordered that will revolutionise safety cover for offshore installations in the Caspian Sea. BUE Marine, today a subsidiary of Dubai-based Topaz Energy, has won a 10-year contract from BP Azerbaijan for three custom-built support vessels.
The deal consists of a dynamically-positioned platform supply vessel which Seabrokers says will be an acquisition and should deliver early-2009; plus a DP anchor-handler and emergency recovery and response vessel (ERRV), both of which will be purpose-built for the contract and are scheduled to deliver mid-2010.
The ERRV will be capable of providing cover at multiple locations, being the first vessel in the Caspian with three daughter craft. In that regard, the concept draws on North Sea practice.
This award follows another long-term three-vessel contract by BP to BUE Marine in 2007 and reinforces Topaz’s position as perhaps the leading provider of marine support services in the Caspian.