Ulstein design for Heerema newbuilding

In February 2010, USOS was contracted by Heerema to design their new deepwater construction vessel, for which an LOI was signed between Heerema and the South Korean shipbuilder DSME mid-July 2010. On 24 August the LOI was turned into a building contract with DSME for the design, construction, testing, commissioning and delivery of this large vessel, a record breaking time for development and award of such a vessel.

The 211.5m long, 46.2m wide self-propelled DP3 deepwater construction vessel has an operating draught of 11m and is a customised version of the Ulstein SOC 5000 vessel design. The Heerema vessel features a revolving heavy-lift capability of 4,000 tonnes, deepwater lowering equipment up to 3,500m and a pipelay tower for J-lay and reel-lay operations via a moonpool. The hull configuration is specially designed for fast transit speeds and optimum motion characteristics in operation. The DP3-class vessel will have a diesel electric power plant comprising six 7,370kW gensets driving two 6,500kW and four 3,200kW thrusters allowing for a transit speed of 12-14 knots.

Following the contract award to DSME by Heerema, USOS signed a contract with DSME on 13 September for further vessel engineering and integration of the mission equipment designed by Huisman. The work will be executed by a dedicated project office in Vlaardingen where engineers from DSME and USOS work closely together. The central location of the Ulstein Sea of Solutions’ office, close to Heerema and Huisman, will facilitate good communication and flow of information required to shorten the timeline in the early phase of the construction of such a vessel.