Wärtsilä Will Supply Ship Design and Equipment for Next Generation Platform Supply Vessel
Wärtsilä has been awarded the contract to supply the design and equipment for a new platform supply vessel (PSV) for offshore operations. The ship will be of the new VS 485 Mk III design and it will be one of the most cost and fuel-efficient supply vessels ever to be launched. The order has been placed by Hellesøy Verft AS, the Norwegian shipyard that will build the vessel, which is to be owned and operated by Norwegian ship owner, Vestland Offshore.
The new vessel is scheduled to be delivered towards the end of 2012. In response to the customer’s demand for a modern, high quality, and fuel efficient PSV, Wärtsilä Ship Design has developed a highly energy and environmentally efficient vessel solution. Based on the well-proven VS 485 design, the new vessel has an optimised hull design for greater efficiency, with corresponding reduced emission to air. The Vessel will be fitted with Wärtsilä medium speed engines and Wärtsilä NOx Reducer. In addition to the design package, Wärtsilä’s scope of supply includes four Wärtsilä 9L20 diesel generator sets, the electric propulsion system, the power management system, and an integrated automation system.
“Vestland Offshore is building a fleet of vessels that emphasise energy efficiency, safety, reliability, and environmental sustainability. These are all major focus areas for today’s oil industry, and Wärtsilä’s designs are at the forefront of achieving these aims”, says Tor Østervold, Chairman of the Board of Vestland Offshore. The VS 485 Mk III fulfils the highest possible Environmental Rating Number (ERN), which represents the vessel’s capability for maintaining its position and normal operations under certain weather conditions. The new Wärtsilä PSV design includes a unique power and propulsion system based on the company’s patented Low Loss Concept. This provides both additional safety and extra reliability for continuous operation, in various failure modes.
Wärtsilä has had a long and successful relationship with the Hellesøy Verft yard, and this will be the seventh VS 485 vessel that they have built. However, this is the first ship of the new Mk III design that they have ordered. The new ship will be one of the most cost and fuel-efficient supply vessels ever to be launched. It is designed to be suitable for world-wide operations.
The vessel is 85.6 m long, has a breadth of 20 m, a cargo deck area of approximately 1000 square metres, and has a dead weight at 7 m of 5,000 t.