Wartsila Ship Design chosen for China-built offshore maintenance vessel

The Wartsila design is developed in collaboration with Altis, a consultancy company specialising in the lift boat market and the contract involves an option for three more vessels.

Wartsila Ship Design said it has considerable experience in designing offshore and specialised vessels, and its selection for the design of a new, next generation, lift vessel is considered an acknowledgement of the company's strong track record.

Lift vessels are self-propelled and provide an offshore elevating platform with manoeuvring capabilities to support various operations, including oil well intervention activities, and the maintenance, repairs, upgrades and removal of offshore rigs.

This latest Wartsila design includes improvements in crane capacity, MLC compliance, accommodation, operational water depth, and DP2.

"Wartsila was chosen to design this new series of vessels because of our expertise, as well as our strong track record in the offshore market. Furthermore, our global engineering and project development services mean that we can be a valuable local partner to both the yard and the owner," said Riku-Pekka Hagg, vp, ship design, Wartsila Marine Solutions.

The vessel can accommodate 250 people and will be capable of operating in water depths of up to 75 m. It is scheduled for delivery in September 2017.