Oceaneering orders new diving vessel

Oceaneering expects delivery of the 61.5m by 14m vessel, with an estimated capital cost of $17 million, from a US Gulf Coast shipyard late in the fourth quarter of 2010. The new vessel will replace the ‘Ocean Project’ which was built in 1972.

This state-of-the-art DSV will be US-flagged and outfitted to perform subsea inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services and support construction operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel will have built-in diving equipment, including a dive control system and decompression chambers, to maximize the availability of deck space for job specific equipment and to ensure safe working conditions. It will have accommodations for 50 personnel and be equipped with a 40-tonne crane, a working moon pool, and a four-point mooring system enabling operations in 700 ft of seawater.

T. Jay Collins, president and CEO, stated, “This purpose-built DSV will allow us to continue to support demand for our shallow water IRM and construction support services. There are over 3,500 platforms and approximately 20,000 miles of pipelines in use in the Gulf of Mexico that we believe will need servicing for the indefinite future.”