COSCO wins Maersk order for subsea supply vessels

28 August 2014

COSCO (Dalian) Shipyard has recently entered into contracts with the Danish buyer, Maersk Supply Service, for building four subsea support vessels with options for two additional vessels. This is the first time Maersk has placed offshore and marine newbuilding orders in a Chinese Shipyard. Maersk Supply Service is a subsidiary of the Maersk Group specialised in marine services. It owns a fleet of more than 60, including 45 anchor handlers, 11 platform supply vessels and 6 subsea supply vessels. It already has one subsea supply vessel and two anchor handling tug supply vessels on order from shipyards in Rumania and Chile.

These are EPCI contracts whereas COSCO (Dalian) is responsible for the engineering, procurement, installation, construction and commissioning of the vessels. The vessel measure 137 metres in LOA, 27 metres in breadth and 11 metres in depth. They are equipped with an electric propulsion system and DP3 dynamic positioning system, and also dynamic compensation deepwater cranes, underwater robots and helicopter platforms. They are designed to carry out subsea cable laying, well installation and maintenance work.

¡°With this new order in China, we have taken the next step in our extensive new building programme. We are reshaping our fleet to focus primarily on anchor handling tug supply vessels and subsea support vessels. In a long term perspective we see a great potential in these segments,¡± says CEO in Maersk Supply Service, Carsten Plougmann Andersen.

COSCO (Dalian) Shipyard is situated in Dalian, the Northeast International Shipping Centre in China and is the largest shipyard in the COSCO Shipyard Group.

Captain Wu Zi Heng, Vice Chairman and President of Cosco Corporation (Singapore) Limited, Mr. Liang Yanfeng, President of COSCO Shipyard Group and also the Chairman of COSCO (Dalian) Shipyard says, "We are happy to have been awarded this contract by Maersk Supply Service to build four Subsea Supply Vessels. In return for the vote of confidence, COSCO (Dalian) Shipyard will deliver the vessels in satisfaction of timeliness and exacting requirements of our client".

The vessels are rated for operations in up to 3,000 metres of water depth and potential customers are international oil companies and construction companies. Delivery of the first vessels is expected in the fourth quarter of 2016.

COSCO Shipyard Group Co. Ltd. press release