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A family of offshore construction vessels
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International Journal of Maritime Engineering
A FAMILY OF OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION VESSELS
J R MacGregor, S N Smith, Subsea7, UK, and P van der Hoek, Merwede Shipyard, Netherlands
SUMMARY
This paper describes three new vessels built for offshore construction related operations including pipelay and saturation
diving. The three ships share similar marine equipment, but have been arranged with quite different offshore
construction support capabilities. The onboard equipment for reeled rigid pipelay, flexible and J lay pipelay and diving
support is outlined. The impact of these differing requirements on the main dimensions and arrangements of the ships is
explained. The paper includes comparative analysis of key design parameters for the three vessels with those for other
vessels designed for a similar duty. The hydrodynamic features of the designs are compared using results of model tests
and analysis in the areas of station keeping, propulsion and seakeeping.
1. INTRODUCTION However, during the mid to late 1990s, several large

drillships and dynamically positioned semi-submersible
In the late 1990s, a series of medium sized offshore drilling rigs were built, with the capability to drill in
construction vessels was built at the van der Giessen de waters up to 3000 m deep (compared to the more normal
Noord shipyard in the Netherlands. At the time, these 500 or 1000 m specified up to then). At the time of
ships were significantly larger than the typically writing another tranche of these large units has been
available offshore supply boat or anchor handling vessel, contracted for delivery in the period 2008 to 2010.
and offered larger deck areas and greater possibilities for
conducting offshore construction activities. See Table 1. Once oil is discovered at these depths, the task of
installing the pipelines and the other subsea infrastructure
The first two ships were delivered with different necessary to transport the well fluids to the production
configurations to suit work in the laying of flexible platforms requires specialised construction vessels
pipelines [1] and diving support respectively. The last capable of handling the large weights and tensions
ship in that series was a lengthened version of the earlier associated with deployment in such water depths (see
hulls optimised for higher speed and seakindliness. Table 5).
In the difficult shipbuilding environment which Subsea pipelines can be categorised in various ways. One
developed in Europe soon after delivery of the third major technical distinction is between “rigid” lines which
vessel, the yard which built these vessels was forced to are constructed from lengths of welded steel pipe, and
close, and its intellectual property and some of the “flexibles” which are made in continuous lengths from
designers were taken on by the related Merwede layers of plastic composite and steel wires. Another
shipyard. difference relates to the duty of the line. “Infield” lines
connect subsea wells to the production platform and are
During 2004, the offshore construction company which typically of smaller diameter. These can be either flexible
operated two of the first vessels on long term charter or rigid design. “Trunk” or “export” lines transport large
began to contemplate investment in a generation of larger volumes of oil and gas from the production platforms to
construction vessels, targeted on the growth in demand the shore, and tend to be rigid pipe of larger diameter.
for offshore oil and gas construction activities in deep
water. For installing these lines a number of techniques are
used. The nature of flexible lines allows them to be
From an initial contract for one vessel, this led to a co- stored onboard the lay vessel and laid from reels or
operation between Owner and shipyard which produced carousels. This generally makes use of a vertical tower
the designs for the three vessels described in this paper (Vertical Lay System or VLS), often located above a
and summarised in Table 2. These vessels are twice as moonpool in the vessel.
large and powerful as the previous generation.
Trunk lines were traditionally installed from a large
barge or semi-submersible on which lengths of pipe are
2. DESIGN CONCEPTS FOR THE VESSELS welded and coated on deck, and then deployed over a
long stinger to the seabed. In profile, the configuration of
2.1 OFFSHORE PIPELAYING the pipe gives the name “S lay” to this method.
Much of the North Sea is less than 150 m deep and, until For deep water, the “J lay” method is increasingly used
recently, offshore oil developments there and in the Gulf for these lines in order to avoid over-stressing the pipe.
of Mexico considered 500m to be deep water. In this technique the welding and coating stations are.
©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Table 1 – Main Particulars of Previous Generation Construction Vessels
Vessel Toisa Perseus Toisa Polaris Toisa Proteus

Yard No. 972 974 987
Delivered 1998 1999 2002
Principal role Flexible pipelay with Diving support Heavy construction
vertical lay system through
moonpool
Principal construction Two 1250t capacity 18 man capacity saturation 400t offshore mast crane
equipment underdeck carousels, 120t diving system
rated lay tower
LOA (m) 113.57 113.57 131.7
LBP (m) 98.32 98.32 117.7
B (m) 22.00 22.00 22.00
D (m) 9.50 9.50 9.50
LBP x B x D (m3) 20,550 20,550 24,600
Accommodation 99 98 99
Generators 4 x 2680 kW 4 x 2680 kW 4 x 2680 kW
Aft azimuth thrusters 2 x 2200 kW 2 x 2200 kW 2 x 3000 kW
Forward tunnel thrusters 3 x 1335 kW 3 x 1335 kW 3 x 1335 kW
No. of engine rooms 2 2 2
DP classification Class 3 Class 3 Class 3
Table 2 – Main Particulars of New Generation Construction Vessels
Vessel Seven Oceans [2] Seven Seas Seven Atlantic

Yard No. 709 710 713
Delivery 2007 2008 2009
Principal role Reel lay of rigid pipe in Lay of flexible pipe and J North Sea diving support
deep water by stern ramp lay of rigid pipe by vertical
tower and moonpool
Principal construction 3500t pipe reel and 400t 2 x 1250t flex carousels in Twin bell, 24 man capacity
equipment rated lay ramp hold, twin tensioner tower saturation diving system
for flex and J lay
Main crane 400t mast crane 400t mast crane 120t knuckle boom crane
LOA (m) 157.31 153.24 144.79
LBP (m) 138.32 140.66 128.96
B (m) 28.40 28.40 26.00
D (m) 12.50 12.50 12.00
LBP x B x D (m3) 49,100 49,934 40,235
Accommodation 120 120 150 plus 24 divers
Generators 6 x 3260 kW 6 x 3260 kW 6 x 3260 kW
Aft thrusters 3 x 2950 kW 3 x 2950 kW 3 x 2950 kW
Forward azimuth thrusters 2 x 2400 kW 2 x 2400 kW 2 x 2400 kW
Forward tunnel thrusters 1 x 2200 kW 1 x 2200 kW 1 x 2200 kW
No. of engine rooms 2 2 3
DP classification Class 2 Class 2 Class 3
mounted on a steeply angled ramp or tower. Pre- large storage reel on the vessel. The pipe is plastically
assembled joints of pipe are fed into the ramp where they deformed around the hub of the reel during this process.
are welded together and then deployed to the seabed in a When laying pipe, it is pulled off the reel, over an aligner
J shaped configuration. The ramp must be capable of at the top of a lay ramp, passed through a straightening
adjusting its angle to match the pipe departure catenary. system, and its descent to the seabed controlled by one or
Another technology which is attractive for laying rigid more high capacity linear tensioners which grip the pipe
pipe of up to around 16” diameter is the reel laying as it passes. The ramp for this method also requires the
method. capability to adjust the lay angle.
In the reel lay method the pipe is welded on shore into The attractions of this method are that much of the
very long lengths which are coated and pulled onto a welding and coating work is performed onshore, where

Table 3 – Particulars of Some Monohull Reeled Pipelay Ships
Vessel Seaway Skandi Apache [4] New reel lay Midnight Deep Blue
Kestrel Navica vessel Seven Express as [7]
(ex Norlift) [8] Oceans [2] originally
converted [5]
Pedigree Conversion Conversion Purpose built Purpose Conversion Purpose built
from DSV built
Status Pipelay system Working Working Working Further Working
now removed upgraded
(extra reel
etc)
Length BP (m) 97.40 100.50 121.90 138.30 142.90 191.80
Reel hub diameter (m) 12.80 15.00 16.44 18.00 16.80 19.50
Reel storage capacity 1,250 2,500 2,000 3,500 2 x 600 2 x 2,700
(tonnes)
Tension capacity (not 2 x 60t 200t 197t 400t 160t 2 x 275t
only from tensioner)
vessel motions, deck space and weather constraints are 2.3 CONCEPT FOR THE FLEX LAY VESSEL
not an issue as they are offshore.
Initially, this vessel was conceived of as being a larger
2.2 CONCEPT FOR THE REEL LAY VESSEL and more capable equivalent to some of the existing fleet
of ships equipped with VLS for flexlay, including the
The reeled pipelay concept has been in use since the Toisa Perseus [1]. As with the first vessel, this project
Pipelines under the Ocean (PLUTO) project which was was approved on the basis of a survey of the potential
used to transport fuels from England to France during market, and not for any specific contract.
and after the invasion of Normandy in 1944.
This function requires a large underdeck hold, with space
One notable name in the development of this technology for two carousels for flexible pipe, plus a moonpool
is the Apache [3, 4], a vessel first deployed by Santa Fe forward of the carousels, with a vertical tower holding
in 1979, and now operated by Technip Offshore. Other two tensioners mounted above the moonpool. A
reel lay vessels followed, but the total number of ships tensioner capability of the order of 2 x 200 tonnes was
capable of performing lay of rigid pipe from vertical initially specified.
reels remains limited (see Table 3).
Prior to contracting it was recognised that with some
The small reel lay vessel Skandi Navica [8] has been extra investment, the vertical lay system could be
working successfully for the Owner for a number of adapted to J lay operations (rigid pipe). The extra mode
years. However, it was clear that in order to work in of operation not only gives the vessel more versatility in
deeper waters it would be necessary for the Owner to an uncertain market, but also allows the owner to install
have access to a larger vessel with increased top tension, larger pipe diameters in the 20-22 inch range, compared
greater reel capacity and more accommodation. with the 16-18 inch limit for the reel lay ship. This was
considered to be particularly useful for installing
In order to compete successfully, it was essential that any specialised deepwater riser systems.
new vessel should involve reasonable levels of capital
and operational expenditure. This duty required that the lower of the two tensioners be
capable of a capacity of 400 tonnes when handling rigid
Thus, the technical desire for increased capability had to pipe (i.e. essentially a copy of the tensioner used on the
be balanced by the commercial reality of the market earlier reel lay vessel). The upper tensioner would be
place. This decision making process occurred in 2004 used only for flexible pipe, and could be of 170 tonnes
and early 2005, at a time when the oil price and offshore capacity.
contracting activity were relatively low.
In addition to these modifications, the tower had to be
After extensive studies of the future pipelay market and made capable of tilting at 15 degrees from the vertical,
economic analyses, it was decided to adopt a tension the moonpool lengthened, and a J lay welding and pipe
capacity of 400 tonnes and a main reel capacity of 3,500 line up module added into the tower. On deck, a pipe
tonnes. A service speed of 13 knots and an loader arm and coating station would be required to
accommodation capacity of 120 persons were also perform J lay work.
identified as key requirements.

A build contract for this vessel was agreed less than a 3.1(b) Main Reel
year after the contract for the reel ship (indeed before the
keel of that ship had been laid The main pipe storage reel is the largest ever built and
has an outer diameter of 28 m, a hub diameter of 18 m
2.4 CONCEPT FOR DIVING SUPPORT VESSEL and a width between flanges of 10 m. This reel is capable
of accommodating pipe lengths as listed in Table 4.
This concept stemmed from a competition to satisfy the
requirements of a tender from a chartering oil company Because of the large dimensions of the reel, considerable
to provide a sophisticated saturation diving vessel. This lengths of pipe are involved in simply moving the
vessel had to be capable of meeting several challenging pipelay tower from the port to starboard flanges of the
and sometimes conflicting performance criteria; reel. Depending on pipe diameter and spooling/laying
• Operate in the North Sea without re-supply for a speed the lay tower must complete this 10m movement in
period of 60 days (hence large tankage) 40 to 100 minutes (pipe at reel hub) or 64 to 260 minutes
• Provide a clear aft deck area of 1200 m2 (hence a (pipe at reel flange).
large ship)
• Have the ability to carry 3000 tonnes of deck cargo The reel rotates on a shaft which is supported by two
at a height of 2 m above deck (i.e. need for stability) roller bearings, each of about 5 m diameter. The reel is
• Have motions and station-keeping suitable for turned by a ring gear driven by 10 electric motors of 72
working in seas of 4.5 m Hs kW each, mounted at the starboard side of the reel.
• Provide a saturation diving complex for 24 divers
(i.e. large internal volume requirement) 3.1(c) Pipelay Tower
• Have a self contained treatment system for subsea
oil and gas wells (high pressure pumps and tanks The pipelay tower contains the following principal
located inside the ship, demanding more internal components, reading from the top down;
volume) • An 18m diameter aligner wheel, which is used
to guide the main and piggyback pipes onto the
In general, these requirements led to a diving vessel that straighteners, and provide a reaction point for
was larger than would normally be contemplated in a the straightening process
design purely for the Owner’s account. However, this • A main pipe straightener and a piggyback pipe
gave the opportunity to make use of similar propulsion straightener
equipment to that adopted for the earlier pipelay vessels. • An electric driven main tensioner, with a four
tracks giving a capacity of 400 tonnes (500
The charter for this DSV was awarded in mid 2006, and tonnes holding)
led to a contract later that year for a third vessel with the • An enclosed workstation, in which operations
same shipyard already engaged with the two pipelay such as pipe cutting welding, strapping of
vessels. anodes and piggyback pipe may take place
• A hang-off clamp with a capacity of 600 tonnes
Since virtually no new DSVs had been built for about 20 (working by friction)
years, this project would pose particular challenges. • A roller box and sheave for controlling the
Although dealing with a smaller class of ship, ref. [10] departure of the pipe or wire from the tower
contains an interesting study of the important factors in • Various sheaves for the abandonment and
the design of this new generation of DSVs. recovery operation
3. OPERATIONAL EQUIPMENT AND All this equipment is mounted on a tower 45 m tall,

IMPACT ON THE VESSSEL which is capable of being elevated between angles of 24
degrees (used for spooling on pipe in harbour) to 90
3.1 REELED PIPELAY VESSEL degrees (used for laying pipe in very deep water). This
adjustment is achieved by means of a hydraulic push-pull
3.1(a) General drive unit on each adjuster beam, which locks pins into
matching holes in the adjusters.
The equipment required to handle heavy pipe in deep
water requires very specialised equipment. The number The entire assembly of tower and adjuster beams is
of such systems which has been built remains limited, mounted on a skid frame, which is in turn mounted on a
and the number of experienced designers and builders is pair of very heavily constructed transverse skid beams on
correspondingly small. For this reel ship the main the ship. The tower assembly is capable of being skidded
components are the main storage reel, the pipelay tower, 10m from port to starboard in order to follow the pipe
the pipeline end termination (PLET) handling system, spooling on/off the reel. This is achieved by means of a
and the abandonment and recovery winches. These are rack and pinion electric drive system. The stability
illustrated in Figure 1. implications of this movement are described in Section
5.2.

.
Figure 1 – General Arrangement of Reel Lay Vessel (Seven Oceans)

Figure 2 – General Equipment Arrangement of Flex/J Lay Vessel - set up for flexlay (Seven Seas)

Figure 3 – General Arrangement of Diving Support Vessel (Seven Atlantic)

Table 4 – Lengths of Pipe Possible on Main Reel
Pipe OD (inches) Length of Pipe in km

Thin Wall without insulation Thick Wall without insulation
6 120 55
10 45 25
12 30 18
14 22 15
16 18 12
Table 5 – Pipelay Capabilities with 300t and 400t Tensioner (dynamics included in effect of pipe)
Pipe Size (inches) 8” 10” 12” 14” 16”

Water depth possible 300t tension 2,650 1,700 1,450 1,370 1,300
(m) 400t tension 3,500 2,250 2,010 1,910 1,730
3.1(d) Tension Capacity hold and adjust the PLET so that it can be offered up
for welding to the pipeline
A key parameter critical in determining the ability of a
vessel to compete for pipelay installation work in deep 3.1(f) Abandonment and Recovery Systems
water is the tensioner capacity.
A pipelay vessel requires winch and wire systems for
For example, to lay a steel pipe of 12” nominal diameter laying down the pipe on completion of a job (or the onset
in water 2,000 m deep, the wall thickness will be in the of bad weather) and for recovering the pipe after such an
range 25 mm to 32 mm (depending on design code) to abandonment.
resist the external pressure and avoid buckling. The
thinner of these leads to a suspended static tension of 220 The vessel’s primary pipelay abandonment and recovery
tonnes, which with the addition of some dynamics may system is rated for 450 tonnes when pulling in, and a
require 280 tonnes to be restrained by the tensioner brake holding load of 560 tonnes.
system as the pipe is laid. The pipelay system must also
contain a clamping system capable of dealing with This system consists of a storage winch located in the
emergency situations (perhaps a flooded pipe), and a vessel hold, capable of holding 3,000 m of 119 mm wire,
winch system capable of abandoning (lowering) and and an electrically driven traction winch mounted on the
recovering the pipe. tower. The sheaves required for this system are some 2.2
m in diameter.
Table 5 illustrates the varying effects of tensioner
capacity, pipe size and water depth on the basis of one A secondary A&R system is centred around an 80 tonne
design code. winch located on the main deck. This is used for lower
tension abandonments and for general work such as
3.1(e) PLET Handling System setting the anchors used to initiate the pipelay operation.
Pipeline End Terminations (PLETs) are relatively small 3.1(g) Impact on the Ship
manifolds which are installed in subsea pipeline systems.
The reel ship is equipped with a system intended to make The space and arrangement implications of this
the operation of handling and installing these objects equipment are described in Section 4.3.
safer and more efficient. The system is designed to
handle PLETs of up to 40 tonnes weight and length of 9 Taken together all of the pipelay equipment weighs some
metres. 3,000 tonnes. Heavy structural reinforcement is required
in way of the reel supports and skid rails for the pipelay
The system consists of the following main components tower. Steel thicknesses in the region of 100 mm are
• A deck mounted rail system, which uses trolleys employed in key locations.
to bring PLETs from their on-deck storage
position to the aft end of the vessel The tower and skid frame weighs in the region of 1,400
• A PLET manipulator which can lift the PLET tonnes, and the challenge of safely and reliably moving
and install it on the aft side of the pipelay tower this device onboard ship is significant. This vessel is
(this manipulator can fleet independently of the fitted with an anti-heeling system described in Section
tower) 5.2. This is used to pre-heel the vessel in the case of
• A PLET line up tool in the tower which can heavy crane operations and to compensate for the
port/starboard heel induced by the pipelay tower.

3.2 PIPELAY EQUIPMENT FOR J/FLEX LAY with a pin of 440 mm diameter. The cycle time for
VESSEL raising the pipe, handover at the tower and lowering is 12
minutes. Time required for the welding and coating
3.2(a) Tower cycles will be longer.
The pipelay tower is an open A-frame structure, with 3.2(e) Impact on the Vessel
each leg fixed to the deck of the ship by pins of 660 mm
diameter, secured in eyeplates fabricated from steel 200 To maximise the synergies in the design and construction
mm thick. of the vessel, and to obtain operational advantages, it was
decided that the fore and aft ends of the ship (where most
Between the legs of the tower are mounted the two of the marine equipment is located) should be identical to
tensioners in retractable frames. This feature, together that of the already ordered reel lay vessel.
with the fact that the tensioners can open, permits the
passage of large items. The 260/400 tonne flex/rigid A new mid body was to be engineered between these
tensioner weighs 340 tonnes, and the 170 tonne rated flex sections, optimised around the very different
tensioner weighs 265 tonnes. requirements of the flex/J lay vessel, beginning with the
moonpool. It was necessary to perform hydrodynamic
The top of the tower (including ramp top crane and J lay tests of the new vessel to determine the effect of the
module) is 56.7 m above deck with the ramp in upright moonpool on the propulsive power required, and check
position, giving the ship an air draught of some 61 metres that water motions in the moonpool would be acceptable.
with the ramp at 15 degrees angle and the ship loaded.
This means that the ship cannot pass under some major The storage winches for the A&R system, the 400 tonne
bridges, including those on the Firth of Forth. crane, and other pipelay related ancillaries (HPU,
switchboards etc) were located below deck near the
3.2(b) Moonpool moonpool, adjacent to the pipelay tower (on the reel lay
ship they were located aft).
A moonpool is located immediately aft of the tower near
the centre of vessel motion, with dimensions long enough Aft of the moonpool, the hold was arranged to
to allow clearance for PLET deployment when the tower accommodate the two carousels. At main deck level, an
is angled in J Lay mode unobstructed aft deck was possible, on which could be
located reel drive systems or deck carousels.
Above the moonpool are a set of sliding hatches, rated
for 600 tonnes SWL, permitting underwater loads to be 3.3 EQUIPMENT FOR DIVING VESSEL
hung off during operations.
3.3(a) Pressure Chambers
3.2(c) Carousels
The core of this system is the 24-person saturation
The two carousels are 16 m in diameter, with a height chamber complex, which occupies a superstructure
between the upper and lower flanges of up to 6.5 m. Each compartment spanning the full width of the ship.
carousel weighs 250 tonnes and can carry 1250 tonnes of
pipe. The carousel undersides are fitted with wheels The chamber complex is designed for compliance with
which rotate on a machined circular foundation of 9.5 m Norwegian NORSOK requirements, and the increased
diameter mounted on the tank top. size and outfitting offers a much improved living
environment for the divers. All chambers have an
3.2(d) J Lay Equipment external diameter of 2.45 m, and the entry locks have a
clear diameter of 2.21 m.
Key functions of the J lay system include the line up of
the pipe received from the main deck together with the The system features two transversely located “transfer
seagoing pipe, and the offshore welding operation. These under pressure” chambers which permit access to the
functions are carried out in a self contained module diving bells without having to disturb personnel in the
mounted on the tower, which can be swung into position other living chambers. The living chambers are arranged
when the upper tensioner is retracted out of the firing longitudinally in the ship and consist of four 3-man twin
line. This J lay module has a weight of some 170 tonnes. lock chambers (5.715 m long) and two 6-man twin lock
chambers (8.85 m long). These are connected to two
Double joints of pipe (around 24 m long and weighing up transfer-under-pressure chambers which allow divers to
to 13 tonnes) are elevated from a horizontal position on lock out into the diving bell without disturbing off-shift
the main deck to a vertical position in the tower by the divers.
loading arm. The moving part of this J lay loader is a
fabricated box structure weighing 85 tonnes, which is Two 18 man Hyperbaric Life Boats are carried, one port
elevated by a single hydraulic cylinder of 7.55 m stroke and one starboard.

3.3(b) Diving Bell Deployment System and 3.3(e) Well Treatment Equipment
Moonpools
Two large compartments below the main deck of the ship
The means of bringing the divers to the subsea work site are required to accommodate equipment associated with
are two diving bells of 7 m3 internal volume. These are a well treatment capability. The final system installed
deployed via moonpools located transversely in the ship, (see Table 6) on the vessel is not a full well stimulation
near amidships. This arrangement is intended to package but is intended for “scale squeeze” operations
minimise the effect of ship induced motion on the bell intended to improve the productivity of subsea oil wells.
operability (some ships with fore and aft located
moonpools exhibit marked reduction in operatibility at 3.4 OTHER OPERATIONAL EQUIPMENT
the forward moonpool).
3.4(a) Cranes
Each bell plus its clump weight has a weight of 21 tonnes
in air. The launch and recovery system spans multiple All three vessels are fitted with a comprehensive array of
decks within the superstructure and consists of four cranes. In addition to the two conventional stores cranes
electrically driven winches per bell (three for the hoist located on the forecastle of each vessel (rated for 2.5
wires and one for the bell umbilical), plus a heave tonnes at 12 m), a total of fourteen other cranes is
compensation gantry system and bell handling trolley installed on the three vessels. The largest of these are the
system. The latter is arranged to bring the recovered offshore construction cranes listed in Table 7. The two
diving bell to a side mating position with the saturation pipelay vessels are each fitted with a 40 tonne electro-
chamber complex. hydraulic heave compensated knuckle boom crane, with
a 40m outreach and wire length of 1800 m. On the reel
3.3(c) Gas Bottle Storage lay vessel the crane is located at the starboard side
amidships and is intended for servicing the pipe reel,
The vessel features a very large storage capacity for diver handling smaller loads, light subsea construction work
breathing gases. This consists of 120 horizontally and maintenance of the pipelay tower when the latter is
mounted seamless (200 bar rated) pressure vessels, each at low angles.
with a length of 11.07 m and diameter of 568 mm. This
installation weighs 342 tonnes and extends over two On the flex/J lay vessel, the 40 tonne crane is located at
‘tween decks. the starboard side aft on the main deck, with the
following functions in mind;
3.3(d) Other Equipment • Assisting flexible pipe to be loaded over the
stern from shore and into the main hold
In addition to the above, the vessel is fitted with a gas • Loading double pipe joints at sea from supply
and air management system consisting of five vessels (in J lay mode)
compressors and miscellaneous gas treatment equipment. • Assisting subsea construction work
• Servicing aft deck, including the pipelay
A large room below the chamber complex is required to workshop hatch
accommodate the equipment which treats the atmosphere
inside the chambers. This consists mainly of scrubbers, Both pipelay vessels have another electro-hydraulic
heaters and coolers, designed to deal with the system knuckle boom crane in common. This crane is rated for
pressures. 12 tonnes at any radius out to 25 m. On the reel lay ship
it is located at the extreme aft end of the port side,
Other equipment and spaces for the diving system intended to service the pipelaying tower and assisting in
include the dive control room and consoles and the pipelaying operations. On the flex/J lay ship the crane is
chamber control room and consoles. located at starboard side amidships for the following
functions;
The chamber control system is of the SCADA type using • To assist the lifting of flexible pipe ends out of
remote operated valves, and this is a significant departure the main deck hatch of the carousel hold
from the conventional approach. Up to now the industry • service the area around the moonpool and lay
has managed the control of the pressure and supply of tower
breathing gases by manually-operated valves acting on
• Service main deck hatch for pipelay stores
tubing brought to the saturation control panel.
The pipelay vessels are fitted with other substantial
Above deck, an extensive system of handling aids
cranes at the top of the pipelay towers and, in the case of
including basket deployment systems, A-frames, hose
the flex/J lay vessel, three smaller service cranes located
reels, and constant tension winches is required to support
in the carousel hold, beside the moonpool and in the
underwater works, including air dive operations. welding station.

Table 6 – Comparison of Well Treatment Equipment
Seawell class [9] New DSV Seven Atlantic

Large HP pumps 4 x 1800hp Triplex pumps, 315m3/hr, 1 x 60 m3/hr, 5,000 psi Triplex pump
up to 15,000 psi (frequency controlled 673 kW inverter drive)
(diesel driven)
Small HP pumps N/A 1 x 19 m3/hr, 5,000 psi Triplex pump
(frequency controlled 448kW inverter drive)
Storage tanks (acid 6 x 49m3 rubber lined (on main deck) 5 x 20m3 (free standing, in hold)
etc)
Mixing tanks Total capacity 230m3 (integrated in N/A
vessel structure)
Additive tanks 34m3 liquid additive N/A
55m3 dry additive
Other fluid storage 257m3 (non aggressive well 129m3 Technical FW
stimulation fluids) in integrated tanks 129m3 Low Sulphur Diesel, both integrated in vessel
Table 7 – Main Crane Installations
Vessel Reel lay Vessel Flex/J Lay Vessel DSV

Seven Oceans Seven Seas Seven Atlantic
Location Port side amidships Port side amidships Port side aft deck
Purpose harbour loading of Harbour loading and offshore harbour loading and offshore lifts of
piggyback reels and lifts of manifolds etc manifolds etc
offshore lifts of manifolds Also to support work over the
etc moonpool and tower, and riser
can deployment tasks
Type Wire luffing mast crane, electric drive (same on both vessels), Secondary hydraulic drive, knuckle
main hoist heave compensated by nitrogen over oil cylinder boom, both hoists heave compensated
Rating harbour lifts of 400t at 16.5m radius Offshore lifts of 120t at 12m radius
main hoist 200t at 25m offshore Speed 40m/min at 120t
Single or double fall mode Single fall mode
wire length of 2700m fitted (5200m possible) Wire length of 1500m fitted
Rating Rated for 55t SWL in harbour 24t at 32m radius
auxiliary Wire length of 500m Wire length of 1500m
hoist Speed 120m/min at 24t
Table 8 Summary of Required Equipment Payloads
Reel lay ship Flex/J lay ship DSV

Weight (t) VCG (m) Weight (t) VCG (m) Weight (t) VCG (m)
Pipelay equipment and crane 4,057 20.04 3,300 21.30 335 (crane) 25.00
ROV system 179 17.70 179 17.70 51 15.89
Diving system N/A N/A N/A N/A 1,150 15.79
Well treatment system N/A N/A N/A N/A 156 (empty) 4.20
Worst case Live Load (wire 450t Upper 600t Top of N/A N/A
tension at highest point) A&R tower
sheave
Variable load (pipe, etc) 3,500t 15.60m 3,000t on 17.25m 3000t on 2m above deck
pipe on deck deck
reel
1,060t on 14.00m 2x1,250t 6.32m
deck on hold
carousels

The DSV is fitted with two electro-hydraulic cranes 4. FEATURES OF THE HULL SOLUTIONS
capable of 10 tonnes offshore lift at 14 m, with 450 m of
wire and a hoisting speed of 100 m/min at 1 tonne. These 4.1 MAIN DIMENSIONS
will support the divers in light subsea construction work.
4.1(a) General
On all three vessels, the main working deck is
strengthened for a load of 10 tonnes/m2. Corrosion In all three cases, a vessel of substantial dimensions is
allowances are also included, meaning that plate required to support the above equipment. Increasing size
thickness on the aft decks is never less than 10 mm above also reduces sensitivity to adverse weather.
Class requirements, with a maximum of 25 mm.
On the other hand, there are two main drivers for
3.4(b) ROV Systems restricting the size of the vessel;
1) retain the ability to enter smaller ports where some
In order to support deep water pipelay and construction of the onshore rigid and flexible pipe manufacturing
operations, both pipelay vessels are equipped with two facilities are located
workclass ROVs, each rated for 3,000 m water depth. 2) minimise the capital costs involved and the future
operating expenditures, and so obtain a competitive
Each machine is rated at 125 hp, and provided with a advantage
tether of 825 m length (for the reel ship this is needed in
order to reach the pipe touchdown aft of the vessel). 4.1(b) Pipelay Vessels
The ROV handling system is based around two over-the- With these factors in mind, an open competition for the
side cursor launch systems. An ROV hangar of some design and build of the first ship was arranged, centred
2,750 m3 is provided just aft of the accommodation block around a set of performance parameters expressed in
to house the ROVs and their launch systems. terms of required speed, endurance, deckload etc. From
this, a fairly consistent set of main dimensions was
The DSV is fitted with two moonpool launched offered by the competing shipyards.
observation class ROV systems. These are smaller
machines not fitted with the powerful manipulators The dimensions and proportions of the finally selected
which enable the workclass units to perform subsea vessel are listed in Table 9, together with those of the
construction tasks. flex/J lay vessel and some of the other existing pipelay
vessels. The dimensions of the flex/J lay vessel are
3.4(c) Survey Equipment almost exactly the same. However, this ship is slightly
longer between perpendiculars because of the need to
In order to have some degree of independence from accommodate the moonpool, but is shorter overall
specialist survey vessels required to track and record data because there are no outriggers at the stern each side of
related to the seabed and the pipeline, the two pipelay the lay tower.
vessels are equipped with the following survey
equipment; 4.1(c) Diving Support Vessel
• Veripos DGPS system (also a key input to the DP
system) For the DSV, a new design was required. Initially a
• Simrad Seapath DGPS based heading reference vessel with the same beam as the pipelay vessels was
system considered, but in order to improve the roll motion and
• Simrad EM1002 multi-beam echo-sounder capable minimise required power, a design with 26 m beam was
of operating in up to 1,000 m water depth developed. This was also of interest in order to minimise
• RDI Workhorse current sensor the cost of the vessel as the Owner was engaged in a
• Online survey console on bridge deck, with offline competition centred around the chartering of the unit.
survey processing office elsewhere
Space management was the key challenge in the design
The DSV is fitted with a less extensive system. of this vessel. Despite its large size, it was a difficult task
to integrate all of the diving related rooms and equipment
within the main dimensions of the hull.
3.5 PAYLOAD REQUIREMENTS
In addition, care was needed in establishing the relative
Spatial and volumetric requirements are the principal geometry of the moonpools, deck cranes, air dive
drivers in the design of the vessels, but weight is also deployment locations and stern thrusters in order to
important. Table 8 shows the total weights of mission maximise the ability of divers to work away from the
specific equipment which had to be accommodated. side of the ship without introducing the risk of umbilical
fouling in the thrusters.

Table 9 – Main Dimensions of some Monohull Pipelay Ships with Towers
Vessel Skandi Toisa Apache Seaway Reel lay Flex/J Midnight Saibos Deep
Navica Perseus Falcon vessel Lay Express FDS Blue
Seven vessel
Oceans Seven
Seas
Pedigree Convert Modified Purpose Convert Purpose Purpose Convert Purpose Purpose
from from built for from designed designed LASH built for J built for
supply OCV reel lay drillship for reel for flex ship lay {6] reel, flex,
vessel after lay and J lay J lay
order
LOA (m) 108.50 113.57 122.91 152.80 157.10 153.24 158.90 163.46 206.40
LBP (m) 100.55 98.32 121.92 137.20 138.32 140.66 142.90 152.00 191.80
B (m) 22.00 22.00 23.336 21.30 28.40 28.40 31.00 30.00 32.00
D (m) 9.00 9.50 8.69 12.50 12.50 12.50 9.85 12.40 17.80
Design 7.00 6.25 5.55 7.50 7.50 7.50 5.50 7.50 9.00
draught (m)
Freeboard (m) 2.00 3.25 3.14 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.35 4.90 8.80
Freeboard as 2.0% 3.3% 2.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.0% 3.2% 4.6%
% of LBP
LBP x B x D 19,910 20,550 24,724 36,530 49,104 49,930 43,635 56,544 109,250
(m3)
LBP/B 4.57 4.47 5.22 6.44 4.87 4.95 4.61 5.07 5.99
LBP/D 11.17 10.35 14.03 10.98 11.07 11.25 14.51 12.26 10.78
B/D 2.44 2.32 2.69 1.70 2.27 2.27 3.15 2.42 1.80
Table 10 – Main Dimensions of some Monohull DSVs
Vessel Pelican CSO Skandi Bibby Acergy New DSV Skandi Arctic
(Stena) Achiever Topaz Havila Seven
Seawell Atlantic
Year completed 1986 1987 2008 2009 2010 2009 2009
Pedigree Purpose Purpose OCV Purpose OCV Purpose OCV adapted to
designed designed {9] adapted to designed adapted to designed DSV after order
DSV after DSV/ROV DSV after
order type ship order
Saturation 18 18 18 18 24 24 24
capacity
No. of 2 2 1 2 2 2 2
bells/moonpools
LOA (m) 94.10 111.40 105.90 106.6 120.00 144.79 152.80
LBP (m) 79.50 100.00 94.70 91.2 107.00 128.96 137.70
B (m) 18.00 22.50 21.00 22.0 23.00 26.00 27.00
D upper deck (m) 9.50 11.00 8.50 9.6 13.5 12.00 12.00
Draught (m) 6.55 7.26 6.60 7.0 8.25 7.00 8.5/6.5
(scant/design)
Freeboard (m) 2.95 3.74 1.90 2.6 5.25 5.00 3.5/5.5
Freeboard as % of 3.7% 3.7% 2.0% 2.8% 4.9% 3.9% 2.5%/3.99%
LBP
LBP x B x D (m3) 16,090 24,750 16,900 19,260 33,223 40,235 44,615
LBP/B 4.42 4.44 4.51 4.15 4.65 4.96 5.10
LBP/D 8.36 9.09 11.14 9.50 7.92 10.7 11.5
B/D 1.89 2.05 2.47 2.29 1.70 2.16 2.25

The resulting dimensions are shown in Table 10, where
they are compared with the dimensions and proportions Although the pipelay vessels were not built with DP3
of some other notable monohull diving support vessels. notation, it was decided to split the main machinery
installation in two equal parts divided by a centreline
4.2 EFFECT OF ADOPTED STABILITY CODE watertight bulkhead. Each side contains three generator
ON ARRANGEMENT sets, a fuel treatment system, 6.6 kV switchboard room
and LV switchboard room. It was also decided to locate
For the pipelay vessels, compliance with the SOLAS each thruster in a separate water tight compartment.
Cargo Ship requirements for damaged stability
(probabilistic damage, SOLAS Ch II-1 regulation 25) Two main electrical cable routes to/from the thrusters
was consciously adopted instead of the Special Purpose were arranged (one each side of the ship). Thus, if a
Ship Code. future upgrade to full DP3 was desired, this could be
achieved relatively easily.
The Owner had no desire to take advantage of the
reduced lifesaving appliances permitted by the latter For these twin engine room ships, the Owner was not
code, and did not wish to inherit large values of GM on attracted to the full DP3 notation because of the restricted
account of the minimum heel angles permitted after DP capability plot available in the DP3 failure case (half
damage. In addition, it was felt that the SPS code was the power unavailable). In addition the Owner was aware
written for different circumstances than those considered of DP3 vessels which were incapable of operating safely
here. in closed bus tie mode (more economical and better for
engine loading) because the electrical system had been
For the DSV in particular, compliance with the SPS code designed only for full DP3 operation (split bus ties).
would not have permitted three engine rooms arranged
side by side longitudinally (due to asymmetric flooding). 4.4(b) Diving Support Vessel
An extremely awkward arrangement of full width fore
and aft engine rooms with a central “island” for the third For this vessel, the DP3 notation was required, and the
engine room would have been needed. This would have station keeping criteria in this condition were more
been complex to construct and to operate. onerous (see Section 8). In order to meet this target, it
was decided that dividing the propulsion system into
three equal sections (two generator sets, one aft and one
4.3 GENERAL ARRANGEMENT fore thruster) would be necessary, allowing 66% of the
installed power to remain available after the loss of any
All the vessels feature a forward accommodation and single space, without having to rely on any complex
helideck, with the pipelay or diving equipment located on cross connections in the electrical power and cooling
deck aft of these items. systems for the thrusters.
In all cases the aft deck has been kept clear of engine
room intakes and exhausts in order to keep the area as 4.5 LIVING AND WORKING SPACES
free as possible for pipelay and construction equipment
and operations. Obstruction by tank vents has also been 4.5(a) Cabin and Recreation Arrangements
minimised as far as practicable.
The pipelay vessels were specified to accommodate 120
In the pipelay vessels access underdeck from fore to aft persons. However, there is always pressure on the
is provided by an alleyway on the starboard side. On the available space on offshore construction vessels and for J
DSV, fore aft access is possible via different lay operations in particular it is likely that the vessel will
compartments. The numbers of sliding water tight doors be at full occupancy most of the time.
fitted in the ships are 11, 16 and 12 respectively.
The DSV was specified by the chartering oil company to
Table 11 compares the different layouts of the vessels, accommodate 150 persons in normal berths, as well as
and the general arrangements are shown in Figures 1, 2 the divers in saturation. This is a considerable increase
and 3. compared to the complement of most DSVs in operation
up to this time (generally in the range 80 to 100).
4.4 MACHINERY SPACE ARRANGEMENT
In order to provide a pleasant living environment
4.4(a) Pipelay Vessels onboard, the accommodations are arranged with a
significant number of single cabins. All cabins have their
The depth of the hulls means that three decks are own ensuite toilet and shower facilities.
possible in the engine rooms on all three vessels.

Table 11 – Layout of Functions Onboard
Part of Ship Reel Lay Vessel Flex/J Lay Vessel DSV

Fore end of Accommodation Accommodation block, Accommodation block, Accommodation block
ship helideck, and lifeboats helideck and lifeboats and helideck
Aft of Full width ROV hangar, Full width ROV hangar, Small P&S hangars for
accommodation workshops and stores workshops and stores observation ROVs
Working deck Aft of ROV Main reel Vertical lay tower and Large deckhouse for
area moonpool diving equipment
Aft deck Open deck c. 600m2 (on Open deck +2000m2 – Open deck – c. 1200m2
which may be located a for deployment of reel
piggyback reel system) drive systems, and deck
mounted carousel
Stern Pipelay tower at transom Open deck Open deck
Below Decks Fore end Machinery spaces Machinery spaces Machinery spaces
Amidships Main reel well Moonpool, Gas storage bottles and
storage winches, HPU diving moonpools
room, pipelay
switchboard room
Under aft deck HPU room, storage Carousel hold Well treatment pump
winches room, under deck stores
Pipelay stores,
workshops and
switchboard room
Aft end Void Void Well treatment tank room
Thruster rooms Thruster rooms Thruster rooms
Table 12 – Provision of Cabins
Pipelay vessels Diving support vessel

Seven Oceans & Seven Seas Seven Atlantic
Total complement (exc. divers in saturation) 120 150
No. cabins with dayroom 3 6
No. of other single cabins 17 14
No. double cabins 48 65
No. other cabins 1 x 4 man -
PoB in single occupancy 69 85
Cabins having outside light 100% 82%
First deck on which cabins are located Deck 5 (only 4 cabins) Deck 6
Table 13 – Noise Levels Recorded onboard Reel Lay Vessel Seven Oceans Sea Trials
DP condition Steaming at 14.5 knots

6 engines running 80% 4 engines running
Bow azimuths at 95% and bow tunnel at 20% No bow thrusters active
Limit dBA Measured dBA Limit dBA Measured dBA
Bridge deck 65 52 65 50
Deck 9 cabin 58 48 58 46
Deck 8 cabin 58 50 58 45
Deck 7 cabin 58 52 58 48
Deck 6 cabin 58 52 58 45
Deck 5 Conf. Room 63 52 63 48
Deck 4 Mess (empty) 63 58 63 54
Engine control room 75 64 75 62

Table 14 – Recreation Areas Allocated
Area Pipelay vessels Diving support vessel

Mess room (m2) 122 150
Recreation/TV lounge (m2) 68 76
Smoking TV lounge (m2) 24 36
Quiet room/library (m2) 33 41
Internet café (m2) 45 34
Games room (m2) 44 Not fitted
Gymnasium (m2) 47 58
Sauna (m2) 13 14
Deck tea room (m2) 17 18
Deck tea room - smoking (m2) 14 13
Total recreation area (m2) 427 440
Recreation area per PoB (m2) 3.56 2.93
Table 15 – Offices Provided Onboard
Pipelay vessels Diving support vessel

No. one or two person offices 8 11
No. of large offices and conference rooms 5 2
Area in one or two person offices (m2) 92 170
Area in large offices etc (m2) 184 72
Total office area (m2) 276 242
Office area per PoB (m2) 2.3 1.6
Table 16 – Areas Provided for Workshop and Store Spaces
Type Location Reel lay vessel Flex/J lay vessel Diving support
Seven Oceans Seven Seas vessel
Seven Atlantic
Workshops Engine Rooms (m2) 109 109 79
ROV on main deck (m2) 44 44 46
Diving on Main Deck (m2) N/A N/A 32
Main Deck (m2) 0 0 24
Underdeck for project or 111 119 14
construction (m2)
Total area (m2) 264 272 195
Workshop area per PoB (m2) 2.20 2.27 1.30
Working Engine Rooms (m2) 40 40 49
stores ROV on main deck (m2) 27 27 28
Diving on Main Deck (m2) 0 0 36
Main Deck (rigging etc) (m2) 29 11 56
Underdeck for projects (m2) 245 92 211
Total area (m2) 341 170 380
Store area per PoB (m2) 2.84 1.42 2.53
Food Stores Cold Stores and lobby (m2) 125 125 102
Dry provisions store (m2) 57 57 113
Total food store area (m2) 182 182 215
Store area per PoB (m2) 1.52 1.52 1.43

1.40
Galley
Mess
1.20
Square Metres per Person
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Number of Persons Onboard
Figure 4 – Areas of Galley and Mess Rooms onboard Offshore Construction Vessels
The sleeping decks are separated from the machinery 4.6 TANK CAPACITIES
spaces by working decks, and are also provided with
floating floors. This, combined with the low dependence Within the hulls, tankage is arranged as shown in Table
on tunnel thrusters for station-keeping, is expected to 17. Some of this is arranged in a double bottom 1475 mm
yield a low noise environment in the accommodation high, reduced to 1250 mm in the engine rooms. No fuel
spaces. tank is permitted directly under the construction decks
(because of risks from frequent welding and removal of
The pipelay vessels are designed for Lloyds Comfort sea fastenings).
Class 3 (cabins not to exceed 58 dBA) and the DSV for
Comfort Class 2 (cabins not to exceed 55 dBA). Table 13 With these tank capacities and a fuel consumption in the
lists some noise levels measured onboard during sea region of 35 tonnes/day when steaming, the reel lay
trials of the first vessel. vessel should have an endurance of 40 days on
intermediate fuel, which equates to a transit distance of
Several dedicated recreation spaces are provided, with 12,400 nautical miles at 13 knots.
sizes as listed in Table 14. The relative sizes of galley
and mess room were pre-determined by ensuring If operating on MGO at an assumed consumption of 40
favourable comparison with the areas deployed on tonnes/day (a higher value than experienced in practice),
previous offshore construction vessels, as indicated in the DP endurance would be about 60 days.
Figure 4.
The DSV endurance on DP is estimated to be in the
4.5(b) Office, Stores and Workshops region of 60 days, based on 32 tonnes/day consumption.
The vessels are laid out with a large number of IT

enabled offices, reflecting the role as an offshore work 5. HULLFORM, STABILITY, AND
site. The pipelay vessels are provided with large project LONGITUDINAL STRENGTH
offices and conference rooms in addition to the more
normal single and two man offices. These are in addition 5.1 HULLFORM
to the offices provided for “marine” purposes (Bridge,
Chief Engineer, Chief Steward). The lines of the vessels have been designed with the
operational profiles in mind. All these vessels have to be
The ships are floating industrial facilities, and so a capable of working in conditions when they cannot
considerable part of the ship volume is dedicated to choose their heading to the sea.
storage and workshop space, as indicated in Table 16.
For the first pipelay ship the frames in the fore and aft
ship were shaped to give gentle motions and low

accelerations. Since the transit speed of the vessels is not The ramp can fleet over a range of 10 m (plus or minus 5
high a bulbous bow would not give a reduction of wave- m from centreline), so that the moment of the 1400 tonne
making resistance but would add to frictional resistance. ramp alone fleeted 5 m off centre is 7,000 tonne-m,
Based on this it was decided not to fit a bulbous bow.
To keep the vessel upright during these operations an
The underwater lines at the aft end were shaped to anti-heeling system is fitted consisting of three pairs of
accommodate the presence of three relatively large tanks, two of which are fitted with a 1000 m3/hr heeling
azimuthing thrusters, but at the same time avoid a pump and one with a 300 m3/hr pump.
shallow “pram” stern which might cause slamming. To
maximise the turning moment in DP these thrusters are The tanks are located with a transverse centre of gravity
located well aft. A relatively long skeg was fitted on the of about 23.70 m apart. The transfer moments with the
centreline aft, stopping just forward of the thrusters. available pumpable volumes are given in Table 20.
Model testing of the pipelay vessels showed good calm The moment from two aft heeling tanks Systems 1 and 2)
water and sea-keeping performance. On the basis of these is sufficient to compensate for harbour ramp fleeting
results the lines of the diving support vessel were operations (no pipe tension).
designed using the same principles. The block coefficient
at design draught is 0.82 for the pipelayers and 0.81 for A combined “weight” (with pipe tension) of 1800 tonnes
the DSV. fleeted 5 m off centre would give a moment of 9,000
tonne-m. This requires that all three systems must be
The vessels are fitted with moonpools as listed in Table used at sea when pipelaying (unless the fleeting range is
18. The effect of the moonpool on the resistance and reduced from 5 m). This means that the heeling tanks can
propulsion of the flexlay vessel is described in Section 6. compensate for the fleeting range of the ramp if there is
sufficient time for pumping.
5.2 STABILITY
When spooling pipe onto the reel (max speed 33 m/min)
5.2(a) General there will be no pipe tension, and the ramp fleeting speed
will be between 0.063 m/min and 0.23 m/min. When
The vessels were designed to meet the intact stability laying pipe (max speed 22 m/min) the ramp fleeting
requirements of IMO Resolution A749 for Offshore speed will be between 0.04 m/min and 0.16 m/min.
Support Vessels. To provide damaged stability in
accordance with the criteria described in Section 4.2 a Offshore, a ramp and pipe with an effective weight of
beam of 28.4 m was required on the pipelay vessels. This 1800 tonnes fleeting over 5 m at 0.16 m/min will
was in fact the maximum which could be constructed on complete the movement in 32 minutes. This gives a
the shipyard’s covered slipway. moment demand of 17,300 tonne-m/hr. Two 1000 m3/hr
pumps transferring water over 23.7m gives a capacity of
The key parameters of some loading conditions for the 47,000 tonne-m/hr which is well in excess of the above
three vessels are shown in Table 19. demand.
5.2(b) Anti-Heeling System for Reel Ship 5.2(c) Anti-heeling system for Flex/J lay ship and
DSV
The vessel has a pipelay ramp weighing about 1400
tonnes, to which might be added the tension of the pipe To control heel angle during crane operations, each of
when at sea. Static tension could exceed 300 tonnes these ships is fitted with a single 1000 m3/hr heeling
(dynamically up to 400 tonnes if the ramp is at 90º). pump.
Table 17 – Tank Capacities
Volume at 100% (m3)

Reel lay ship Flex/J lay ship DSV
Fuel IFO 1,570 1,412 N/A
MGO 2,800 2,584 2,275
Water Ballast tanks 4,076 5,160 5,200
Technical fresh water (included in above 604 682 129
ballast capacity)
Anti-heel tanks (additional to above 1,546 1,546 1,200
ballast capacity)
Stabiliser tanks (additional to above 716 716 1,000
ballast) (passive flume) (passive flume) (Intering type)
Potable water 655 655 1,060

Table 18 – Dimensions of Moonpools arranged in Hull
Reel lay vessel Flex/J lay vessel DSV

Working moonpool N/A 1 x clear opening 10.99m x 7.5m plus 1 x 2.34 x 2.25
bottom radius of 3m – fitted with part
closing bottom door
ROV moonpools N/A N/A 2 x 4.68m x3.00m
Diving moonpools N/A N/A 2 x 4.68m x 4.50m
Table 19 – Some Typical Loading Conditions
Reel lay ship Flex/J lay ship DSV (diving)

Sailing Sailing Sailing Sailing Diving Diving
loaded arrival Loaded arrival loaded Arrival
Draught (m) 7.50 6.87 7.50 7.20 6.15 5.80
GM fluid (m) 1.84 1.73 2.44 1.82 2.88 2.55
Table 20 – Transfer Moments Available from the Tanks
System Capacity (one side Pumpable Transfer moment Transfer moment Transfer moment of
only at 100%) m3 transfer of individual of System 1 and 2 Systems 1, 2 and 3
volume (m3) systems combined combined
(tonne-m) (t-m) (t-m)
1 429 137 3,178 7,169 9,699
2 344 172 3,990
3 250 112 2,531 N/A
Table 21 – Main Design Parameters for Hull Girder
Reel lay vessel Flex/J lay vessel DSV

Concentrated loads on the hull Large pipelay loads at Large pipelay loads Deck load on aft deck
girder stern of vessel, amidships, sometimes
sometimes with no pipe with large pipe storage
weight amidships weights aft
Structural integrity and buoyancy Large structural opening Moonpool amidships, Smaller moonpools
considerations amidships for reel well reducing buoyancy distributed along length
Implications of above Hogging likely to govern Sagging likely to govern Hogging
Worst Design max SWSF 24,700 (0.07L) +15,700 (0.5L) +18,500
hogging (kN)
condition Design max 807,700 (0.32L) 310,000 (0.25L)* 550,000 (0.45L)
SWBM (kNm)
Worst Design max SWSF 16,200 -15,700 (0.5L) -18,500
sagging (kN)
condition Design max 0 -375,000 (0.48L)* +70,000 (0.45L)
SWBM (kNm)
Hull section modulus amidships 8.928 8.041 6.575
(m3)
* Note - the allowable SWBM during pipelay can be +570,000/-650,000 kNm because sea state is then limited to 3 or 4m Hs
Table 22 – Estimated Natural Frequencies of Hull Girder
2 noded hull vertical Bureau Veritas 2 noded Ratio BV/Kumai

vibration by Kumai (Hz) vertical bending (Hz)
Toisa Perseus 1.333 1.59 1.19
Reel lay ship 1.049 1.29 1.23
Flex/J lay ship 0.893 1.16 1.30
DSV 1.083 1.09 1.01

5.3 STRUCTURAL DESIGN positioned differently showed a greater power reduction
in loaded condition compared to the ballast condition.
The key structural design drivers and resulting design
parameters for the hull girder are summarised in Table The moonpool door was predicted to give an extra 0.12
21. All three ships were constructed with minimal use of knots at 7.5 m draught and 0.77 knots at trials draught.
360 N/mm2 and 320 N/mm2 steel.
However, although correlation between model tests and
To check that the hull girder would not be in resonance full scale trials was good for the rigid pipelay ship, full
with wave excitation and natural frequencies of the scale trials on the flexlay ship with “closed” moonpool
pipelaying towers, some simplified calculations were indicated higher resistance than found in the model tests.
made using the methods of Kumai [11] and Bureau This was probably due to the effect of heave motion on
Veritas, with results as shown in Table 22. the water column in the moonpool (the modelled
moonpool doors had 10% openings, but the full scale
6. RESISTANCE AND PROPULSION door had openings representing 30% of the plan area).
The pipelay vessels are designed to maintain a service 7. MOTIONS IN WAVES

speed of more than 13 knots at loaded draught with a
15% sea margin. The DSV is contracted to reach a trial 7.1 ROLL PERIOD
speed of 14 knots at the design draught, with the aft
thrusters at 90%. Ability to operate in a wide range of sea states is a key
competitive driver in the design of any offshore
Model tests (scale ratio 15.6:1) were carried out for all construction vessel. When size is limited, and the semi-
three ships, with special attention paid to the resistance submersible configuration is not adopted, the options
and wave form in the moonpool of the second ship. available are somewhat restricted.
Since the Flex/J lay vessel is equipped with a large In the case of the first pipelay vessel, the primary
working moonpool, additional testing in the calm water objective was to ensure that the natural roll period of the
basin was carried out to measure the water motions in the vessel would lie in a range outside the periods of most
moonpool in ballast and loaded draught. The model was commonly encountered wave energy. To this end, an
also tested with the moonpool closed by a bottom door analysis of wave statistics for the most common offshore
(non watertight) intended to reduce the motions of the development areas was undertaken (Table 24).
water column in the moonpool and the added resistance
resulting from this. Based on this analysis, it was decided to aim for a vessel
natural roll period of more than 15 seconds, and
The tests showed that a partly closed (about 80%) preferably in the region of 20 seconds. With a beam of
moonpool has almost the same effect as a complete 28.4 m it proved possible to achieve this on the pipelay
closing. For practical reasons the partly closed option has vessels and still have acceptable stability. A 20 second
been adopted. Table 23 shows some of the results of roll period was not possible in the case of the DSV,
model testing of the moonpool, together with the because of the stability needed to carry the 3000 tonne
powering results for the other vessels. deck load on a narrower beam (26 m).
The beneficial effect of the moonpool door at ballast Particularly in the case of the reel ship (designed to raise
draught is about twice the power reduction measured at and lower a large pipelay tower from 24 to 90 degrees,
design draught. The effect is due to resonant water and unreel more than 3,500 tonnes of pipe from above
motions in moonpool, which are very sensitive to the main deck level), a principal challenge was to ensure that
position of the moopool. Tests with the moonpool the vessel centre of gravity does not vary too much from
one vessel loading condition to another.
Table 23 – Results from Model Testing of Speed/Power
Speed Reel lay ship at Flex/J lay vessel at 7.50m DSV at 7.00m draught
7.50m draught draught (all 5 moonpools open)
(no moonpools) with moonpool with moonpool
open part closed
Required shaft power 12 knots 3,874 4,170 4,151 3,181
in calm water (kW) 13 knots 5,087 5,613 5,477 4,321
Remaining % sea 12 knots 95% 81% 82% 138%
margin (based on 7567 13 knots 49% 35% 38% 75%
kW available at 90%)

For this reason the pipelay vessel side tanks were split They were also used as the DP design basis (Section 8 of
horizontally, so that when ballast is added it is not always this paper).
added low in the ship. In addition, a tank was mounted
high in these ships above the ROV hangar. When this Table 25 shows that the selected operating wave height
tank is completely filled, it permits 730 tonnes to be of 3.0 m Hs is exceeded only infrequently in the
placed at a centre of gravity 23.5 m above keel. This tank deepwater oil and gas provinces of the mid Atlantic for
can also operate as a passive stabiliser tank, although in which the pipelay vessels are intended.
this mode the mass of water employed is reduced.
For the DSV, the target operating environment was 4.5m
For the DSV, an Intering type U tube stabiliser system Hs, with North Sea type wave spectra.
was incorporated below the main deck.
7.3 MODEL TESTS
7.2 TARGET OPERATING CONDITIONS
Motion analyses and model tests were carried out to
Analysis of probabilities of occurrence of various wave confirm the motion characteristics in a range of operating
heights was conducted in order to determine the required and survival sea states. Some of these tests were
operating environment for the vessel and the pipelay designed to produce resonant rolling in beam seas. The
equipment. For pipelay vessels a laying condition of 3 m results obtained for the pipelay vessel (Table 26) indicate
Hs (any wave direction) was selected, together with a that roll experienced in these conditions should be very
requirement to abandon the pipe in seas up to 6 m Hs low. Actual seakeeping experience with the ship has
(bow quartering seas only). proved very satisfactory.
These figures (together with associated wind and current For the DSV, corresponding results are shown in
speeds) were use to calculate the vessel motions and Table 27.
associated structural load for the pipelay equipment and
the interface with the ship structure.
Table 24 – Periods of Wave and Swell Spectra
Sea Area West Africa Gulf of Mexico Brazil West of Shetland Northern North Sea
(Campos) (all year) (all year)
Annual average Tp (s) 12.0 5.95 9.1 9.6 7.9
Tp which is exceeded 15.4 7.2 12.7 12.7 10.4

only 10% of the time (s)
Percent of time when Tp 12% 0% 5% 1.5% 0%
exceeds 15s
Table 25 – Occurrence of Wave and Swell Height
Sea Area West Africa Gulf of Mexico Brazil (Campos)

Annual average Hs (m) 1.15 1.60 1.76
Hs which is exceeded only 10% of the time (m) 1.79 3.00 2.15
Percent of time when Hs exceeds 3m 0% 10% 2%
Percent of time when Hs exceeds 5m 0% 1% 0%
Table 26 – Test Results and Predicted Roll Motions (Pipelay Vessels)
Vessel condition Wave Conditions Single amplitude RMS roll angle (degrees)
Loading GM Heading Significant Spectra Tested without Tested with Predicted
Condition solid Height (m) Tp (sec) Anti Roll Tank Anti-roll
(m) Tank
Fully 2.06 Beam seas 3.0 20.3 0.62 0.55 0.70
loaded
Bow 3.0 10.0 0.40 0.45 0.30
quartering
Unloaded 3.40 Beam seas 3.0 15.6 0.90 0.65 1.70
Bow 3.0 10.0 0.35 0.45 0.30

quartering

Table 27 – Test Results and Predicted Roll Motions (Diving Support Vessel Seven Atlantic)
Vessel condition Wave Conditions Single amplitude RMS roll angle (degrees)
Loading GM fluid Heading Significant Spectra Tested without Anti Predicted (anti-roll
Condition (m) Height (m) Tp (sec) Roll Tank tank empty)
Full load, 2.31 Beam seas 4.5 9.0 Not tested 1.93
Draught 7m Bow quartering 4.5 9.0 Not tested 1.40
Unloaded, 2.67 Beam seas 4.5 14.3 2.33 2.99
Draught 6m 4.5 9.0 1.18 3.25
Bow quartering 4.5 14.3 2.76 2.16
4.5 9.0 0.96 2.29
Table 28 – Environmental Conditions for Station keeping Design
Vessel Pipelay vessels DSV

DP condition DP2 DP3 (nominal) DP3
Power un-available in the 1 engine and 1 generator 3 engines and 3 2 engines and 2
design condition generators generators
Operation Pipelay Abandon pipe General General
Wave/wind headings All Bow +/- 30 All All
Wind speed 10 ASL (m/s) 17 30 16 15
Significant wave height (m) 3.0 6.0 3.0 4.5
Current speed (m/s) 0.8 1.0 0.8 1.0
Astern pull (e.g. pipe) included 70 70 0 0
in the calculations (t)
8. STATION KEEPING made the electrical power generation (6 engines) and

distribution system symmetrical and lent itself to
8.1 WEATHER CRITERIA separation into two or three engine rooms as required.
As described in Section 7, the weather conditions for In order to achieve the required performance, the vessels
pipelaying and diving operations were clearly defined are equipped with two 2,400 kW retractable azimuthing
prior to the start of each project, and this then dictated thrusters and one 2,200 kW tunnel thruster forward,
the ratings of the installed propulsion systems. together with three 2,950 kW azimuth thrusters aft.
The pipelay vessels are intended to maintain station (with These thrusters are all fixed pitch type, driven by
the loss of any one generator or thruster) in the weather vertically mounted variable speed motors, supplied from
conditions listed in Table 28. Some other conditions (e.g. frequency convertor drives operating at 690 V. The
beam squall in Gulf of Mexico) were also considered in power supply for the six motors is obtained from a 6.6
the design. Figure 5 shows one of the DP capability plots kV main switchboard.
obtained with a 70 tonne pipe pull and all thrusters intact.
The main generators are medium speed diesel engines of
Performance at sea has shown that the vessel has very 7 cylinders and 320mm bore (rated 3,360 kW at 100%
good station keeping characteristics, and more than MCR), driving a 3,600 kVA alternator.
adequate power in her thrusters and generators.
On the pipelay vessels the power plant is divided equally
For the DSV, the station keeping was calculated in the between two main engine rooms and two sets of
condition with one engine room out of action (i.e. DP3 switchboard rooms, whereas on the DSV three separate
loss). engine rooms are used.
8.2 INSTALLED POWER Figures 6 and 7 show the trend of power to size for a
wide range of existing dynamically positioned offshore
All three vessels share the same propulsion plant of three monohulls. The present vessel characteristics lie on the
aft and three forward thrusters. This number of units upper side of the trend lines.

Figure 5 – DP Capability Plot Reeled Pipelay Vessel (Seven Oceans)
0.90
0.80
Generator Power/LBD (kW per m3)
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000 180,000 200,000
LBP x B x D (m3)
Figure 6 – Installed Generator Power to Size Ratios for DP Monohulls

0.70
0.60
Thruster Power/LBD (kW per m3)
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000 180,000 200,000
LBP x B x D (m3)
Figure 7 – Installed Thruster Power to Size Ratios for DP Monohulls
8.3 THRUSTER DESIGN 8.4 THRUSTER ARRANGEMENT
All thrusters are of the fixed pitch type in order to reduce At the time the first ship was being considered, many of
the risk of failure due to mechanical defects. the smaller offshore construction vessels were derived
from a supply boat or diving vessel tradition, and their
To maximise commonality of spares, all three aft forward thrusters were nearly all of the tunnel type,
thrusters share the same direction of rotation and the perhaps with one azimuth included. In contrast, large
same propeller blades (despite slightly different wake modern DP drillships generally use only azimuth
fields). thrusters forward.
In selecting the pitch of the stern propellers, a balance At the start of the project for the first vessel, a conscious
had to be struck between the following conditions; decision was made to increase the number of retractable
• Trials condition aimed at achieving 13.5 knots at azimuth thrusters in the forward part of the vessel to two,
design draught with 90% power on the motors, but and reduce the tunnel thruster installation to one required
no sea margin to manoeuvre in harbour. This was for three main
• Actual fully loaded service transit conditions with reasons;
sea margin (i.e. increased power required), • To increase the ability of the forward thrusters to act
• Light loaded service transit conditions, with the against the predominant environmental direction
intention to use the available power to maximise • To reduce (by greater submergence) the loss of
speed (electric motor and propellers operating at effectiveness due to thruster emergence or
higher than nominal RPM) ventilation in waves
• DP conditions at zero speed • To reduce noise nuisance in the accommodation
On the pipelay vessels, the aft propellers had diameter The position of the forward thrusters is as near to the
2.8 m, pitch 3.44 m, and a nominal RPM of 226. For the bow as permitted by the hull shape, in order to maximise
DSV the absorbed power is less with the same propeller the turning moment generated. These thrusters are
blade design but because the difference is very small it arranged in line fore and aft, which required the two
was decided to use exactly the same propellers as on the azimuths to be separated by the tunnel thruster in order to
pipelay vessels. minimise the interferences between the two units. If it
had been accepted to place the thrusters further aft, then
The pitch of the forward azimuth thrusters was optimised they could have been placed further apart in an
for a speed of zero knots. athwartships orientation.

0.14
Bow tunnel thruster power / L 2 (kW/m 2)
0.12
0.10
0.08
0.06
0.04
S7 Pipelay ships
S7 DSV
0.02 N Europe ferries 1996-2004
Med & Japan ferries
0.00
100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240
LOA (metres)
Figure 8 – Relative Sizing of Bow Tunnel Thrusters
The nozzles of the bow azimuths are tilted downwards at give a symmetrical design to the overall power system.
an angle of 3 degrees to minimise loss of thrust due to Compared to a four engine installation, this solution
flow attachment to the underside of the hull. maximises the chances of continued operation when one
engine is being maintained (many of the previous
The dependence on a single tunnel thruster for harbour construction ships derived from an offshore supply vessel
manoeuvring is one weakness of this arrangement, tradition had employed the four engine solution).
especially for the reel lay ship where port calls to collect
pipe are a key part of the operation. In line engines of 320 mm bore were selected in order to
minimise the number of cylinders and associated
However, Figure 8 shows that the installed power of this maintenance burden. The number of engines and
2200 kW unit compares favourably with that of other cylinders involved on these vessels is compared with
similar sized vessels. The comparison is made with some others in Table 29.
ferries which have to dock regularly in windy northern
climates, and their counterparts from milder 9.2 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
environments (Japan, Mediterranean).
All three ships have 60Hz electrical systems. The
At the stern of the ship, it was also decided to place the arrangement of the main switchboard of the pipelay
thrusters as far from amidships as possible. This leads to vessels is shown in Figure 9. The total weight of this 6.6
a simple triangular arrangement of thrusters, with the kV board is 35 tonnes.
centreline unit nearest the transom.
The arrangement and trip settings of the inner and outer
In general, the vessel does not need all the power of the bus ties are intended to ensure that in the event of any
three aft thrusters, and one reason for adopting this single equipment failure, including bus bar fault, the
configuration was in order to be able to continue some vessel does not lose more than one generator and/or one
form of operations with one thruster unavailable. thruster.
9. OTHER VESSEL EQUIPMENT AND The fuel supplies and other key piping systems are also
SYSTEMS arranged along similar principles.
9.1 MAIN MACHINERY For the DSV, the single line electrical diagram is
different (Figure 10). The board is split into only three
As explained in Section 8.2, a power generation system main parts since it has already been accepted to lose two
with six equally sized engines was selected in order to thrusters and generators in the worst case DP3 event.

Table 29 – Engine Cylinder and Power Relationships
Vessel Skandi Navica Toisa Perseus Vessels in this Saibos FDS Deep Blue
paper
No. Engines 4 4 6 6 6
Bore (mm) 320 260 320 260 320
Make Wartsila Wartsila Wartsila Wartsila MAN/B&W
Type 2 x 6L32 4 x 9L26 6 x 7L32 4 x 16V26 6 x 12V32
2 x 8L32 2 x 8L26
No. of cylinders 28 36 42 80 72
Rating (kW) 2 x 2700 4 x 2790 6 x 3360 4 x 4960 6 x 6000
2 x 3600 2 x 2480
kW per cylinder 450 310 480 310 500
Power (MW) 12.6 11.16 20.16 24.8 36
Cylinders per MW 2.22 3.22 2.08 3.22 2
In both pipelay vessels the electrical system is required to The vessel management system takes care of the power
absorb power generated from the tensioners, management of the main generators and consumers, and
abandonment winches and crane systems when they are is supplied in an integrated package together with the DP
lowering large loads towards the seabed. This is achieved control system.
by means of resistor units. Air cooled resistors are fitted
on the reel ship (exhausting the hot air above deck aft of The pipelay and diving installations are controlled by
the reel) and water cooled units on the second vessel their own dedicated systems, with limited interfaces to
the ship’s control network.
9.3 FUEL SYSTEMS
The DP sensors include;
The pipelay vessels are designed with a dual fuel • Three VERIPOS DGPS
capability. Since pipelay vessels (especially reel ships) • Two HiPAP 500 hydro-acoustic sensors, with a
must often transit long distances from the base where the sea chest available for a third unit
pipe is loaded to the final installation location, fuel • Taut wire (two taut wires for the DSV)
economy in transit is of interest. • Interfaces for Fanbeam, pipe/cable tension etc
• Radascan (for DSV only)
Consequently, the design includes tanks for intermediate
fuel of 180 cSt at 50oC and marine gas oil. The IFO tanks 9.5 DOMESTIC SUPPLY SYSTEMS
and the supply system are heated, using thermal fluid
heated by two packaged boilers of 2,100 kW capacity. Fresh water storage is provided in four tanks. On the
pipelayers, these have a total capacity of 655 m3 but this
For the DSV with short transit distances, long periods on is increased to 1060 m3 for the DSV which is required to
DP, and the possibility that IFO and HFO fuel may be operate for extended periods in proximity to oil platforms
banned in the North Sea area, only an MGO system was without using the water makers
specified.
Two reverse osmosis plants are installed, each with a
9.4 DP AND MACHINERY CONTROL capacity of 25 tonnes per day.
SYSTEMS
Two separate sewage treatment plants, each rated for 80
The onboard marine equipment is monitored and persons are provided.
controlled by an integrated automation system, with
distributed I/O cabinets around the vessel, a number of The climate in the accommodation and extensive
processing stations and distributed operator interfaces underdeck workshops is controlled by an air conditioning
(VDU based). system using chilled water as the secondary refrigerant
and R-407C as the primary fluid.
The number of connected I/O on the pipelay vessels is
about 3,200, and 3,400 on the DSV.

Figure 9 – Single Line Electrical Diagram – Pipelay Vessels (two engine rooms)

Figure 10 – Single Line Electrical Diagram DSV (three engine rooms

10. PROJECT EXECUTION It was also decided not to indulge in extensive supply of
Owner Furnished Equipment. This contributed to reduce
10.1 CONTRACTING the risk associated with issues 1, 3, and 5 above.
Five main issues were prominent in the Owner’s Thus, invitations to tender containing performance based
selection of the contracting strategy for the first vessel. specifications were issued for both the vessel and pipelay
scopes of work. A small number of potential contractors
1. Minimising Owner’s interface risk with the responded to these tenders with their own proposed
contractors specifications.
2. Minimising the Owner’s exposure to the
interface risk between vessel contract and After several rounds of evaluation, internal approvals and
equipment contracts external negotiation, letters of intent were signed in April
3. Maximising the number of potentially available 2005 for the principal elements of the reel lay vessel with
shipyards (given scarcity of suitable yard the Merwede Shipyard and Huisman-Itrec, both in the
capacity during late 2004 and 2005) Netherlands. These letters of intent were converted into
4. Ensuring the Owner’s ability to react quickly to firm contracts (and an interface contract between
changing circumstances (currency changes, Huisman and Merwede) one month later, after more
altered performance requirements, yard detailed technical specifications and contracts had been
availability) during the tendering and negotiated. Table 30 shows the key dates involved in this
negotiating period (this was very important process.
given the scarcity of available build slots
mentioned in 2 above) Delivery of the integrated pipelaying vessel took place in
5. Minimising the risk of variation orders and mid 2007, some 26 months after contract.
schedule extension at the shipyard
For the flex/J lay vessel, the contracts were not
The first and second objectives were addressed by competed, but were negotiated with the same contractors
adopting turnkey design and build routes for both vessel along the same lines as the earlier contracts.
and pipelay equipment. This was reinforced by seeking
to find a prime contractor who was willing to carry the For the DSV, a contract was negotiated with the same
risk of both vessel and pipelay elements or, failing that, shipyard as for the two previous vessels. However, with
two contractors who were willing to carry the interface the pipelay system supplier absent from the arrangement,
risk between themselves. it was not possible to arrange a contractual mechanism
which protected the Owner from the interface risk and
The third, fourth and fifth objectives were all addressed the diving equipment effectively became Owner
by deciding that the vessel design would not be the Furnished Equipment.
Owner’s responsibility or imposed on the shipyards after
development by the Owner with an independent design 10.2 PROJECT PERFORMANCE
consultant.
Progress on the pipelay vessels was good, and generally
In this way, it was possible to obtain rapid feedback from in accordance with the original schedules. Despite being
the contractors on the commercial impact of changes launched on schedule, outfitting and completion of the
before contracts were finalised. DSV was delayed by problems with the supply of the
diving equipment.
Table 30 – Key Dates for New Generation Construction Vessels
Vessel New Reel lay vessel New flex/J lay vessel New DSV
Letters of intent signed 18th April 2005 21st December 2005 31st July 2006
Contract signed 23rd May 2005 14th February 2006 25th October 2006
Model tests complete 12th August 2005 30th March 2006 2nd January 2007
Steel cut 1st November 2005 20th June 2006 9th August 2007
Keel lay 15th February 2006 th
27 September 2006 27th November 2007
Launch 22nd September 2006 1st June 2007 18th July 2008
Transit to topsides yard 28th January 2007 th
17 November 2007 N/A
Delivery (with construction 21st July 2007 9th June 2008 2009
or diving equipment)

11. CONCLUSIONS
This paper describes a newbuild construction programme

which began with one very specific vessel requirement.
Fortunately, the principal design features adopted for this
problem proved capable of adapting to very different
requirements for a second and third vessel, providing
synergies for both shipbuilder and Owner.
12. ACNOWLEDGEMENTS
The views expressed in this paper are those of the

authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the
origanisations to which they belong.
13. REFERENCES
1. “Toisa Perseus: Multi-purpose Support Vessel”,

Significant Ships of 1998, RINA, 1998
2. MacGregor, JR & Smith SN, “Deepwater Pipelay

and Construction Vessel“, World Maritime
Technology Conference (WMTC), 6-10 March
2006, London, UK
3. Modi, A, “The History and Future of Reeled

Pipe”, Technip Offshore
4. “Recent Trends in Offshore Pipelay Equipment”,

Sea Technology, April 1979
5. “Converted Pipelayer to Join Offshore Fleet”,

Offshore, August 2003
6. “Saibos FDS: Field Development Ship from

Samsung”, Significant Ships of 2000, RINA, 2000
7. de Soras, D & Cruickshank, J, “Combining

Flexible and Rigid Pipelay Functions for Ultra-
deepwater Operations”, Offshore, May 2000
8. Construction Vessels of the World, 7th Edition,

Oilfield Publications Limited, 2004
9. Hell, A & Tebbutt, FB, “The Seawell Series of

Subsea Maintenance and Well Service Vessels”,
Transactions, Institute of Marine Engineers, Vol.
98, Paper 13, 1986
10. Hovland, E, “On the Impact of Operational Profile

on the Ideal Design of a Diving Support Offshore
Construction Vessel”, Marine Technology, Vol.
45, No. 2, SNAME, April 2008
11. Lewis, EV (editor), Principles of Naval

Architecture Vol. 2, SNAME, New York, 1989
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A family of offshore construction vessels

Article · January 2008

James R MacGregor Peter van der Hoek

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1. INTRODUCTION However, during the mid to late 1990s, several large

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Vessel Toisa Perseus Toisa Polaris Toisa Proteus

Table 2 – Main Particulars of New Generation Construction Vessels

Vessel Seven Oceans [2] Seven Seas Seven Atlantic

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

3. OPERATIONAL EQUIPMENT AND All this equipment is mounted on a tower 45 m tall,

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Figure 1 – General Arrangement of Reel Lay Vessel (Seven Oceans)

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Pipe OD (inches) Length of Pipe in km

Pipe Size (inches) 8” 10” 12” 14” 16”

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Seawell class [9] New DSV Seven Atlantic

Table 7 – Main Crane Installations

Vessel Reel lay Vessel Flex/J Lay Vessel DSV

Table 8 Summary of Required Equipment Payloads

Reel lay ship Flex/J lay ship DSV

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Table 10 – Main Dimensions of some Monohull DSVs

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Part of Ship Reel Lay Vessel Flex/J Lay Vessel DSV

Table 12 – Provision of Cabins

Pipelay vessels Diving support vessel

DP condition Steaming at 14.5 knots

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Area Pipelay vessels Diving support vessel

Table 15 – Offices Provided Onboard

Pipelay vessels Diving support vessel

Table 16 – Areas Provided for Workshop and Store Spaces

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

The vessels are laid out with a large number of IT

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Table 17 – Tank Capacities

Volume at 100% (m3)

©2008 Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Reel lay vessel Flex/J lay vessel DSV

Diving moonpools N/A N/A 2 x 4.68m x 4.50m

Table 19 – Some Typical Loading Conditions

Reel lay ship Flex/J lay ship DSV (diving)

Table 20 – Transfer Moments Available from the Tanks

Table 21 – Main Design Parameters for Hull Girder

Reel lay vessel Flex/J lay vessel DSV

Table 22 – Estimated Natural Frequencies of Hull Girder

2 noded hull vertical Bureau Veritas 2 noded Ratio BV/Kumai