Offshore Ship Designers Series Deliver the Goods

THREE recent deliveries highlight the successful series of offshore support vessels designed by the Offshore Ship Designers group.

The VOS Pathfinder completes a series of five basic IMT955 Standby vessels built at Astilleros Zamakona, Spain, for Vroon Offshore Services. The 55 m loa VOS Pathfinder was contracted in October to HRL Centrica for a five-year period working in the Morecambe Bay gas field.

Also recently delivered are the VOS Pioneer and VOS Prospector, the first two of ten IMT 955-L Field Support Vessels building at Astilleros Zamakona, Spain for Vroon Offshore. They are based on the IMT955 design, lengthened to 60 m loa and fitted with FIFI-1. Both are on long-term contract to Total.

The recently delivered Pacific Viper is the fifth of a ten-ship series of 120-tonne BP anchor-handling tug/supply vessels being built at Labroy Shipyard in Batam for Swire Pacific Offshore to an OSD IMT (formerly IMT Marine Consultants) design, the IMT966. The five remaining vessels in the series are all fitted with DP1 and will be delivered end-2008 and during 2009.

Offshore Ship Designers Group (OSD) is a global one-stop resource delivering naval architecture and marine engineering skills to the shipping and offshore energy industries. It draws on an experienced global workforce to provide high quality feasibility studies, conceptual and detailed designs for tugs and offshore support vessels of all types. Offshore Ship Designers is based in IJmuiden, The Netherlands, and has offices in Montrose, Escrick, Bideford and Shanghai.

Photo: Voss Pathfinder.