Dockwise Vanguard News

Boskalis' mega lift ship Boka Vanguard -- the world's largest semi-submersible heavy lift vessel -- is preparing to load a truly enormous cargo: a 90,000-ton floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) platform.The FPSO is equivalent to the weight of approximately 300 Boeing 747s, making this the heaviest cargo ever to be transported by a semi-submersible heavy lift ship, according to Boskalis.Until recently, the Boka Vanguard was known as the Dockwise Vanguard. Boskalis acquired Dockwise in 2013, and the renaming and subsequent rebranding of the vessel marks the start of the process to present the company's integrated service portfolio for the offshore energy sector under the Boskalis brand name…

Heerema Marine Contractors said its semi-submersible crane vessel Hermod will retire at the end of this year after nearly 40 years of operational performance. Designed and constructed in the 1970s, Hermod and sister vessel Balder were the first semi-submersible crane vessels of their kind in the offshore construction industry. The semi-submersible concept was developed with the aim to extend the operability in the harsh North Sea environment and furthermore to deliver superior lifting capacity.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. said its wholly-owned subsidiary Dockwise has recently been awarded a number of marine transport contracts with a combined contract value of approximately $50 million. Dockwise was awarded a contract by Husky Oil Operations Ltd. for the transportation of the West White Rose Topside from Texas, U.S. to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The contract includes the engineering, preparation and execution of the loading, transport and discharge operation of the topside. The topside will be skidded onto a large barge, which in turn will be floated onto the semi-submersible heavy transport vessel Dockwise Vanguard that will transport the cargo to Newfoundland and Labrador. The transport is expected to take place in 2021.

The world's largest heavy transport vessel Dockwise Vanguard is transporting a new floating dock from Montenegro to Lithuania. The floating dock was acquired in June 2016 and began its journey to Klaipeda, where it will be installed at the Western Shipyard owned by BLRT Grupp. In the beginning of August the 11,000 ton floating dock was loaded onto the Dockwise Vanguard, world's only vessel with a deadweight of 110,000 tons for carrying heavy loads and floating oil and gas platforms.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has been awarded a contract by Samsung Heavy Industries for the transportation of the three topside modules of the riser platform and the topside of the processing platform for the Johan Sverdrup project offshore Norway. The contract carries a value of approximately USD 40 million. The modules will be transported by Dockwise in three journeys. A Dockwise type I heavy transport vessel will transport two topside modules of the riser platform with a total weight of more than 20,000 MT and a Dockwise type II vessel will transport the third 6,000 MT module in the first half of 2018. The modules will be transported from the yard in Geoje, South Korea to the project site offshore Norway where they will be offloaded.

When the Dockwise Vanguard was conceived, Dockwise, part of the Boskalis Group, had a vision for a new market - transporting the world’s largest cargoes, including FPSOs (floating production storage and offloading vessels). It hasn’t taken the vessel, the largest heavy transport vessel in the world, long to prove its worth, as well as the feasibility of such a feat. The vessel has currently transported its first ship-shaped FPSO cargo, Bumi Armada’s Armada Intrepid, to South East Asia which also happens to be one of the three largest cargoes ever transported.

The Goliat platform has arrived in Hammerfest, Norway last week, after a 63-day journey from South Korea covering 15,608 nautical miles. It will now undergo final preparations for the first oil production from the Barents Sea. "Upon completion of final preparations to install her in the Barents Sea this summer, she will support production operations at the world’s northernmost producing offshore oil field located approximately 80 kilometers offshore Ersvika," says a company statement. The largest heavy transport vessel in the world, Dockwise Vanguard, has transported the platform throughout the Indian Ocean. When the field comes on stream later this summer, Goliat will become the world's northernmost producing offshore oil field.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) announced at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston that it has started a study into a new ultra large V-class Heavy Marine Transport Vessel (HTV). The Dockwise Vanguard which came into service early 2013 is already the world’s largest V-class HTV with a carrying capacity of 117,000 MT and a deck space of 270 meters by 70 meters. Peter Berdowski, CEO Boskalis, “The Dockwise Vanguard has been well received in the market. The study addresses both the market opportunities and the technical requirements for the new vessel.

80% of the world’s semi-submersible heavy-lift vessels are equipped with motion monitoring and decision support systems says ABB, including the 'Dockwise Vanguard' recently contracted to lift and carry off the 'Costa Concordia'. Offshore oil and gas platforms and floating production centers are getting bigger and heavier, and the ships that transport them across the oceans of the world are getting bigger and heavier as well. Recently, the world’s largest semisubmersible heavy-lift vessel…

Dockwise, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has been awarded the contract to load and transport the lifted 'Costa Concordia' wreck from Isola del Giglio onboard the 'Dockwise Vanguard'. The contract was awarded by Costa Crociere S.p.A. In a unique operation the Costa Concordia can be loaded as a whole onto the Dockwise Vanguard and safely transported to a location where she can be scrapped. The client has yet to make a decision in agreement with the local authorities on the final destination. Alternatives under review include scrapping the vessel in Italy.

Royal Boskalis Westminster (Boskalis) subsidiary Dockwise was contracted to provide an alternative form of dry docking in the Mediterranean for a semi-submersible drilling rig too big to fit into any dry-dock in the region. It was realised that the company's Dockwise Vanguard was uniquely positioned for this type of large scale dry docking, not only the transportation of very large and heavy structures. The drilling rig was loaded onto the liftboat allowing inspection and repairs to be made to normally underwater parts of the rig.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) announces that Dockwise has recently been awarded numerous new contracts valued at US$175-million for heavy marine transport as well as transport and installation (T&I) services. Various short term heavy marine transport contracts were acquired, primarily for the transportation of jack-up rigs, and all due to commence in the next couple of months. Included in these contracts is the transportation of large, state-of-the-art new built rigs from Singapore to Brazil in 2013/14 on the Dockwise Vanguard.

The Boskalis subsidiary, Dockwise vessel 'Mighty Servant 1' has offloaded the 23,000 ton spar for the Lucius deepwater oil and natural gas project in the Gulf of Mexico. The Lucius truss spar, measuring 184 meters (605 feet) long and 34 meters (110 feet) in diameter, was loaded onto the Mighty Servant 1 by means of skid on operation at Pori, Finland. The spar was transported 7,700 nautical miles and discharged at Ingleside, Texas and delivered back to Technip. The Lucius Development…

ABS Nautical Systems continually enhances its NS5 Enterprise software suite of products to meet ever-changing industry demands. Currently in development for release in 2013 are a mobility platform, a new warehouse and inventory management module, as well as a new Hull Inspection 3D module. The mobility platform supports portable devices including scanners, tablet PCs and smartphones. Features will include alert view notifications and mobile calendaring. Any customer with mobility support within the organization’s infrastructure can take advantage of this upcoming technology.

Amarcon, a member of the ABB group, received an OCTOPUS-Onboard order for the new build Dockwise Vanguard. This vessel is one of the largest and most advanced heavy lift vessel ever built. The vessel was launched in November 2012 and is currently undergoing sea trials. Dockwise was founded in 1993 as a merger between Wijsmuller Transport and Dock Express Shipping, making Dockwise the world’s largest and most versatile heavy transport shipping company. The Dockwise Vanguard shall be equipped with OCTOPUS-Onboard for the purpose of motion monitoring…

Dockwise Ltd. has 6 new contracts, letters of intent and contract extensions with a total value of almost US$ 60 million. Dockwise, headquartered in Breda, the Netherlands, is a leading marine contractor providing total transport services to the offshore, onshore and yachting industries as well as installation services of extremely heavy offshore platforms. The company also operates a fleet of 25 purpose built semi-submersible vessels (including Dockwise Vanguard, White Marlin and  Finesse). The contracts include a material change order for a Vanguard contract delivering the customer a later loading window and 5 shorter term contracts for execution in 2012 and 2013. These assignments include the mobilization of two drilling rigs and the transportation of a yacht- hotel.

Dockwise Ltd. confirms it has received an unsolicited intended offer from Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. ('Boskalis') for the acquisition of all outstanding shares of Dockwise at an offer price of EUR 17.20 per share cum dividend. The intended offer by Boskalis is subject to certain specified and unspecified conditions. The Board of Directors of Dockwise, together with its financial and legal advisers, will consider the intended offer of Boskalis to assess its merits, risks and the consequences for Dockwise and its shareholders, as well as its employees and other stakeholders, compared with the stand-alone strategy of Dockwise and other alternatives.

Breda, The Netherlands – Dockwise Ltd. Announced that it had won a reservation contract, securing the transportation of a spar buoy for the Statoil-operated Aasta Hansteen offshore production field, formerly known as the Luva field. The spar buoy, which has an approximate length of 200 meters, a diameter of 50 meters and a weight of 45,000 tons, will be transported on the new super vessel Dockwise Vanguard from either Korea or Finland, subject to yard choice, to Norway in 2015. The final contract award from Statoil is dependent on formal project sanction for the Aasta Hansteen development. Further wins for other clients comprise the transport of four drilling rigs to Rotterdam, Saudi Arabia and Singapore (all for H1 2012) and a single load of barges to Brazil in Q2 2012.

Dockwise has won The Royal Association of Dutch Shipowners’ KVNR Shipping Award for its bowless heavy-cargo ship Dockwise Vanguard. Heavy transport expert Dockwise in cooperation with consulting and engineering company Deltamarin have designed a unique semi-submersible vessel without conventional bow and with the accommodation in its entirety on the starboard side. The deck space of the vessel equals the main dimensions of the ship. The Royal Association of Dutch Shipowners (KVNR) introduced the KVNR Shipping Award in 2008.

With its width of nearly 80 metres and length of 275 metres, this is the first semisubmersible heavy lift vessel to be built in accordance with DNV’s new class rules for this type of ship. The vessel has no forecastle, which allows it to carry cargo of ”unlimited” length. Its deckhouse is mainly positioned outside its hull, allowing it to carry 70 metre wide cargo. “As DNV is perceived to be the leading class society when it comes to heavy lift vessels, and as Dockwise is a front runner within this ship segment…

Dockwise announced its second project for the new-build vessel Dockwise Vanguard. Directly following the transportation of the Jack & St. Malo platform to the Gulf of Mexico in 2013, the Dockwise Vanguard will return to Korea to load and transport the Goliat floating, production, storage and offloading vessel [FPSO] to northern Norway. The investment decision for the construction of the Dockwise Vanguard has facilitated technical optimization of the production platform, whereby the change offers benefits to the Goliat project with respect to transit time and transportation flexibility. The financial result from this contract and the hereby announced change order confirms the earlier made financial prognosis for the vessel in its first year of operation.