IHC Merwede has successfully named and launched the pipelaying vessel Sapura Diamante on schedule at the company’s shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, The Netherlands.
The vessel, ordered by Sapura Navegação Marítima, a joint venture between SapuraKencana of Malaysia and Seadrill of Norway, is the first in a series of five fully integrated offshore vessels, which will be completely designed, engineered and built by IHC Merwede.
After delivery, the Sapura Diamante will be used for deepwater developments offshore Brazil. The client is Petrobras.
Energy visited the ship just ahead of its launch. It is based on a well-proven, relatively conservative hull shape developed by IHC Merwede some years ago, but which has been evolved to customer requirements.
It will be some time before Sapura Diamante is ready for sea as it is to be equipped with a pipelay spread designed by the shipyard’s UK arm, IHC Engineering Business located in the north-east of England.
It comprises of two below-deck storage carousels, with capacities for 2,500 tonnes and 1,500t of pipeline product respectively.
A vertical (tiltable) lay system – with a 550t top tension capacity – is to be permanently installed for the deployment of a range of flexible products, varying from a diameter of 100 to 630mm.
The pipelaying spread is being built at IHC Merwede’s facility in Sliedrecht. Another member of the group, IHC Drives & Automation, has already delivered the integrated automation system, the full electrical installation and the complete electrical machinery package.
The IHC Merwede yard is kitted out for series construction of specialist vessels with up to one-and-a-half hulls fabrication capacity in the building hall. Basically, every vessel is fabricated from a kit of pre-manufactured parts delivered to the facility on a just-in-time basis.
Construction of the second in the series of vessels for Sapura/Seadrill is already well advanced while, at an outside berth, Subsea 7’s latest offshore construction ship Seven Waves is in the final stages of completion.
The Seven Waves is a flex-lay vessel capable of operating in water depths to 2,500m. The vessel is equipped with a vertical (tiltable) lay system (550t top tension capacity) and twin ROVs.
It is the fifth vessel IHC Merwede has built for Subsea 7 after three other pipe-laying vessels and a diving support vessel. The 146m vessel is due to enter service in the first half of next year. Seven Waves is also destined to work offshore Brazil.
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