Next generation of medium AHTS opening up the Russian market

Crown Ship Limited under SINOPACIFIC Shipbuilding Group (SINOPACIFIC) secured the contract for building 4 AHTS' offshore support vessels (OSVs) with Russian ship-owner, FEMCO Group.

The vessels will be built under SINOPACIFIC's own SPA150 design to BV class by Dayang Shipbuilding in China, which is owned by SINOPACIFIC. And after the delivery dating for 2015, these OSVs will be used for petroleum prospecting, drilling and production.

It is the first time for SINOPACIFIC or any other shipbuilders in China to sign OSV building contract with a ship-owner in Russia, a country with extensive expertise in equipment manufacturing industry. This breakthrough instantly narrows up the distance between China and Russian market. "This opens a door for China shipbuilding industry to further develop international OSV market. Which also means, SINOPACIFIC has entered a new era for proprietary design and production of medium AHTS," explained Simon Liang, Chairman and CEO of SINOPACIFIC, when commending on the milestone significance of signing this contract.

Being quite a young and vigorous enterprise, FEMCO group provides shipping services in oil and gas development field worldwide. In recent years, FEMCO has been enlarging their activities within both traditional areas and new sorts of marine transportation. With an offshore fleet consisting of 11 AHTS and icebreaker AHTS vessels, today's FEMCO has developed into a highly professional operator of OSV.

SPA150 is an AHTS OSV with 150t bollard pull. As the first medium size AHTS in SP series, a proprietary brand of SINOPACIFIC, SPA150 is developed by Shanghai Design Associates (SDA) under SINOPACIFIC. It is noteworthy that since the first ship of small size AHTS - SPA80, also designed by SDA, being put into operation 11 months before, it has won recognition from its ship-owner BOURBON and recently been nominated for the Support Vessel of the Year by OSJ (Offshore Support Journal) 2013 Awards.

"Thanks to the prestige of our OSV brand SP and the delivery performance in past years, we secured above contract smoothly," explained Jiang Qiang, Co-CEO of SINOPACIFIC. "It's the first order for SPA150, which also shows that our strategy to leverage market needs to drive product development is paying off." He meanwhile pointed out that the company will certainly not be confine to this, "As an international enterprise driven by strategy and technology, SINOPACIFIC will continue to put focus on the R&D of proactive product according to its medium and long-term development strategy." added he.

Without exaggerating, the birth of SPA150 with 12,240HP propulsion and 150t bollard pull, marks the start of a new generation of medium-size AHTS which highlights the conception of safety, environmental protection and heavy load for modern vessels. 515m2 cargo deck with 10t/m2 uniform load, high pressure hydraulic deck machinery with 40 persons' accommodation make it suitable for different kinds of offshore support work.

According to the contract, all the four AHTS' of SPA150 will possess DPII system, two vessels will be equipped with FI-FI I while the other two with FI-FI II as well as ORO systems. The main machinery will be provided by Norwegian and European manufacturers.

By Feb. 2013, SINOPACIFIC has delivered a total of 129 OSVs and has orders in hand for around 80 OSVs, continuous to stay as the market share leader in the world's OSV market.

Main Characteristics for SPA150
Length overall ~72.0m
Breadth 17.2m
Depth moulded 7.8m
Main engine power 9,000 KW
Bollard pull >150T
Deadweight 2,500T