on order
Goliat ERRV approaching completion
Esvagt’s most recent newbuilding, the SX123 emergency rescue response vessel (ERRV) for Eni Norge, for the Goliat field, is also its largest and most sophisticated to date
I
n 2011, OSJ reported on the addition to Esvagt’s fleet of its first Ulstein X-Bow vessel, Esvagt Bergen. Now, another, even more sophisticated example of the X-Bow design is approaching completion at Zamakona shipyard in Spain. At 87m long, the new vessel, known only for the time being as C703, or ‘the Eni vessel,’ is 7m longer than the pair of X-Bow vessels ordered earlier by the company, of which Esvagt Bergen was the first. However, according to Kristian Ole Jakobsen, the company’s chief technical officer (CTO), C703 is a much more complicated and sophisticated design. On delivery in August of this year, C703 will enter a charter with Eni in the Barents Sea, where it will encounter some particularly harsh conditions. This being the case, C703 has been adapted in a number of ways to make it suitable for use in such an unforgiving environment. The most important way that the design has been modified is a high degree of ‘winterisation’. “We are at the most northern part of Norway in the Barents field, where the risk of being iced- over is significant,” said Mr Jakobsen. “We have to be prepared for the winter in order to be able to operate there. This means extra steel around the bow to deal with brash ice, and heating to all of the escape routes from the vessel, so that people will not slip should they need to use them.”
Much of the other equipment and systems have also been winterised and are heated to prevent the build-up of ice and prevent equipment failure. “The masts are heated so that they will not ice up and we are also able to flush parts of the vessel with warm water to prevent the formation of ice. “An automatically operated tarpaulin system
will be stretched over the cargo deck so that snow will slide off it, into the sea, and all of the ladders have heating to them so that they are safe to use,” said Mr Jakobsen. The propulsion system is
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which will have a high level of redundancy, and the vessel, which is also equipped for fire- fighting, has accommodation for 40, compared with 31 on Esvagt Bergen. The new vessel for the Goliat field also has large oil-spill recovery tanks compared with Esvagt Bergen.
The diesel-electric machinery separates C703 from the other Esvagt vessels in Group 1. Even if the ship looks like the other two X-Bow vessels from the outside, there are essential differences under deck and in the engineroom. Diesel-electric
propulsion sees C703 fitted
with six diesel generator sets instead of the relatively large conventional main engines one might usually find on an ERRV. These supply power to two azimuthing thrusters. “In this way, several advantages are achieved,” said Mr Jakobsen. “These include increased redundancy, better fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, much greater operational flexibility and enhanced manoeuvring.” Eni Norge will take an initial 10-year charter on the vessel when it is delivered. The agreement entailed construction of a new vessel fitted with the best available technology and will require the SX123 design to be mobilised at the field at all times. The vessel is being built in compliance with the most up-to-date oil-spill contingency requirements (including NOFO 2009), guaranteeing a rapid and effective response in the event of an oil spill or the need to provide assistance to evacuees from the platform. The ERRV will carry a fast rescue boat and a daughter craft which can be launched and
recovered from the stern of the unit. It will also be equipped with oil detection radar and infrared cameras that will enable it to locate and monitor oil in conditions of reduced visibility and darkness, should a spill occur. The vessel will also be fitted with the latest type of offshore oil boom and have equipment on board to facilitate the use of dispersants. Esvagt Bergen commenced operations for Statoil in the second quarter of 2011, providing standby duties in the Sleipner and Volve area in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The vessel
is on an eight-year charter
servicing the Sleipner East and West production platforms, Mærsk Inspirer jack-up rig and Navion Saga floating storage and offloading vessel. By employing an enhanced multi-field ERRV such as Esvagt Bergen, Statoil is saving money on having to charter three ships, one for each of the production facilities in the Sleipner area. This is a strategy that other North Sea operators, notably BP in the UK sector, have used to reduce operating costs.
Esvagt’s commercial manager, Ib Hansen, said the company also has on order two more somewhat smaller C-type vessels for delivery in the first quarter of 2013. “The X-Bow is good for speed and stability. It was part of Statoil’s requirements that the vessel should be able to maintain 17 knots in 2.5m significant wave heights,” Mr Hansen explained. “The X-Bow design is meant to be good for harsh weather operations and this has proven to be true. It provides a lot of space inside the vessel’s fore area too.” OSJ
diesel-electric,
Esvagt’s ERRV for the Goliat field will be its largest and most sophisticated to date Offshore Support Journal I June 2012 I 81
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