Offshore staff

IJMUIDEN, The Netherlands -- Avonway has ordered a monohull crane vessel with a 5,000-metric-ton (5,600-ton) single mast lifting capacity from Singapore's Sembawang Shipyard.

Sea of Solutions was responsible for the concept and basic design of the vessel. Huisman-Itrec in Rotterdam will build the crane, claimed to be the largest single mast unit installed to date on a vessel, extending around 150 m (492 ft) above the deck. The previous largest was reportedly the 3,000-metric-ton (3,360-ton) crane for the Sapura 3000 pipelay vessel, also a Sea of Solutions/Huisman project.

The new vessel will also feature two 5.5 MW propulsion thrusters, allowing it to reach a transit speed of 14 knots. DP-3 class dynamic positioning is achieved through four 3.2 MW retractable thrusters and 2.5 MW bow thrusters, but there is also provision in the design for an eight-point mooring system in future.

06/21/2007