Global Industries has awarded Keppel Singmarine the construction contract for its new pipelay /
heavy lift vessel Global 1200. It is the third new build vessel contracted in 2007 to be designed by the innovative Dutch design company Sea of Solutions (SoS), partner in the
Offshore Ship Designers Group. The previous two major vessels designed by SoS contracted this year were a 5,000 tonne heavy-lift vessel for Nordic Heavy Lift and a pipelay/heavy lift vessel for Larsen & Toubro. Sea of Solutions was responsible for both concept and basic design of all
three vessels.
Scheduled to enter service in April 2010, the dynamically-positioned Global 1200 is a combination derrick/pipelay vessel with 1,200 ton lifting capacity, 60–in. pipe laying capacity, and 400 ton deep water lowering system capacity.
The Global 1200 is a customized version of the Sea of Solutions’ SOC 600 design and will be able to pass through the Panama and Suez canals. The design incorporates an AmClyde single post crane on the aft and a centre firing line on the freeboard deck, the latter being a distinctive feature of most Sea of Solutions pipelay designs. For this project Sea of Solutions teamed with Vuyk Engineering, one of its engineering partners.
The vessel is propelled by two 4,500 kW propulsion thrusters providing a trial speed of 15 knots. Combined with the five retractable thrusters of 2,400 kW each and an 880 kW tunnel thruster the vessel is classed DP 2, however diesel-generator and switchboard lay-out meet DP3 requirements to provide additional redundancy.