London: Heerema Offshore Services has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Sembcorp Marine’s Jurong Shipyard in Singapore for the construction of the world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel (NSCV).
The vessel will be equipped with two cranes, each with 10,000-tonne lifting capacity, designed and built by Netherlands-based Huisman Equipment.
The cranes will be used to install subsea structures, foundations, moorings, and floating structures in deepwater.
The 214-metre-long, 97.5-metre-wide NSCV will be self-propelled with a speed of up 10 knots, with dual-fuel engines running on marine gasoil (MGO) and LNG.
“The fact that we decided to press on with our plans in these times of low oil prices, shows our belief in the offshore oil and gas industry and demonstrates our continued commitment to offer unparalleled installation services to the industry,” Jan-Pieter Klaver, CEO of Heerema Marine Contractors, said in a statement today. “We are confident that with Jurong we have found a reliable partner that can build the world’s largest crane vessel.”
Heerema Marine Contractors, part of the Netherlands-based Heerema Group, currently already owns four of the world’s largest crane vessels, namely: SSCV Thialf, DCV Balder, SSCV Hermod, and DCV Aegir plus a fleet of anchor handling tugs and modern transportation barges including the world’s largest barge, H-851.
