Voith enters PSV market

The Norwegian shipowner ?stensj? Rederi AS has placed an order with Voith Turbo Marine (VTM) for two Voith Schneider Propellers (VSP) for a Platform Supply Vessel (PSV). The 85 metre long vessel will be built at Astilleros Gondan shipyard in Spain and the ship was designed by Skipsteknis in Norway. The newbuilding is slated for delivery in early 2007. With this order, VTM is entering a new application market. A PSV driven by two VSPs needs 10 to 20% less power, depending on the load conditions and the sailing speed.

Dynamic Positioning (DP II) has been a standard feature of PSVs for many years and long-term experiences with mine countermeasure vessels have shown that the VSP is ideally suited for this purpose. A special feature of the VSP is its roll damping capacity. When at a standstill and not moving in any direction, the VSPs, thanks to their fast reversibility, can be used to reduce the effects of high seas on the ship. This is particularly important since PSVs are loaded and unloaded at sea when the rolling and pitching motions of the vessel can seriously disrupt the loading process and even stop it altogether. The VSP, in combination with the Voith Roll Stabilization (VSR), reduces this risk and hence widens the application window.