‘Seven Viking’ wins Ship of the Year

The next generation vessel, which was designed for operations in the harshest environments, is co owned by Subsea7 and Eidesvik.

The ICE-C class vessel has been working for Statoil in the North Sea since February as part of a five year contract. Custom built by Ulstein, the vessel is used to carry out tasks including inspection, maintenance and repair of subsea installations, scale treatment and ready for operations (RFO) work scopes.

“I am really impressed by this vessel. Being on board a brand new vessel, I had expected some teething problems, but all systems are working smoothly. We’ve hardly had any disruptions in our work whatsoever,” said Captain Jan Tangenes, Eidesvik Offshore.

Seven Viking features the X-BOW hull line design to reduce motion in transit and give increased stability in high waves. Measuring only 106.5m long by 24.5m wide, this version of the SX148 design is able to manoeuvre with ease in confined spaces, such as between platforms, accessing difficult to reach areas.

Mr Tangenes added: “We are maintaining a service speed of 16 knots in quite rough weather and we’ve had no trouble with that. The comfort for the personnel on board is very good. This is my first X-BOW vessel, and I am very pleased. It’s delivered beyond my expectations so far.”

The vessel also features a customised module handling system (MHS) in the hangar for the safe launch and retrieval of subsea modules weighing up to 70 tonnes through the moon pool. Minimal noise levels in the hangar are achieved through electric winches, which also eliminate the risk of emissions of hydraulic oil.