Offshore Marine Technology: 2nd Quarter 2019
Oceaneering International has taken delivery of a new subsea construction support vessel, Ocean Evolution. Built in the US by BAE Systems, to the specs of Marin Teknikk’s MT 6022 design, the 107.6m ship will commence operations in June this year. Oceaneering states that the vessel will be utilised to offer installation services for subsea tie-backs and to engage in work related to subsea maintenance, repair and decommissioning, in addition to providing well stimulation and light well intervention services.
Ocean Evolution’s open steel deck spans 1,170m² and has been strengthened to 10tonnes per m², with a top deck load capacity of 2,200tonnes. The ship can accommodate up to 110 persons and features under-deck tankage for 412m³ of special products. Her 22.2m helideck, meanwhile, can handle helicopter loads of up to 13.2tonnes, enabling the landing of Sikorsky S-92 and S-61N models. The vessel’s design also incorporates a 7m x 7m moon pool.
Additionally, the vessel is fitted with a pair of Oceaneering’s work-class ROVs – each rated for depths of 4,000m. These ROVs comprise a 10.8m x 5.5m, 164kW Millennium Plus model and a 10.9m x 5.6m, 186.4kW Nexxus unit. Other equipment includes an active heave-compensated (AHC) crane, which is rated 250tonnes at 10m and features a maximum hook height of 36m above the main deck. This is complemented by: a 40tonne SWL auxiliary crane, located adjacent to the moon pool, which can descend to 180m; a 1.5tonne provisioning crane; and two ROV cranes, rated 1.1tonnes and 1tonne.
Station-keeping is enabled by the inclusion of a Kongsberg K-Pos22 DP system, awarded DP2 status by class society ABS and complemented by two tunnel thrusters, a drop-down thruster in the bow and two Azipull thrusters in the stern. The vessel is powered by five engines, each generating 3,190kW, enabling it to transit at 13knots with a mean draught of 5m.
