Construction begins on 54-ship series

Naval architect Guido Perla and Associates has announced that construction is now under way in China of the first of a series of 54 offshore support ships. The ships are to the GPA 254L AHTS design, and all are destined for French maritime services provider Bourbon Offshore. The vessel is currently under construction at Dayang City Shipyard. The original order, covering 26 ships, was placed in 2006 and this was expanded in 2007 by 28 additional vessels, which will be built at the new Zhejiang facility in Ningbo.

GPA says that the design of the 59.78m ships incorporates several innovative features, and is expected to establish new operational modes in anchor handling. One of these is the use of a diesel-electric propulsion configuration, with three 1,825kW main diesel generators, one 170kW emergency generator, two 1,685kW azimuthing Z-Drives, one 1,685kW fixed Z-Drive and two 570kW bow tunnel thrusters. This is expected to save fuel, produce lower emissions and provide higher reliability.

GPA says that this design, along with the GPA 654 PSV, pioneers the concept of locating the engine room above the main deck, which eliminates drive shafts and increases below deck cargo carrying capacity. The slightly higher center of gravity coupled with effective dampening provides comfortable roll characteristics

The diesel-electric system provides redundancy, and, combined with a DP2 system, enhances station-keeping capabilities.

The series is expected to be completed in the spring of 2011.