South Korea's STX Offshore & Shipbuilding has won a $100m order from Belgian Scaldis Salvage & Marine Contractors to build a self-propelled heavy-lift crane vessel.
The vessel will be equipped with a pair of 2000t Huisman cranes and be built first at STX's Dalian's shipyard and completed at Xiamen shipyard in China.
Capable of sailing at a speed of 7 knots, the vessel will have a length of 108m, beam of 50.9m, depth of 8m and draught of 4.90m.
The vessel will be equipped with four Azimuth thrusters and DP2 system (Dynamic Positioning System 2), which will allow the vessel to perform installation work in deeper water without the use of anchors.
It will have an installed capacity of 10,450 kW and hoisting capacity 4,000t, while the integrated design of the ship and the cranes will allow a maximum load to be hoisted in wave heights of up to 1.5m.
The heavy lift cranes can be moved by 25m on the ship while the deck to be used to transport and then relocate cargo at a later stage.
The crane ship is also equipped with 4 main working anchors and winches and 4 secondary devices.
Moonpool system installed in the ship will allow the vessel to operate a separate ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) for inspection and supervision of installation work on the seabed while the fenders will allow it to loaded/unloaded containers at sea.
Keel laying of the vessel will be done in February 2013 and the vessel is scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter 2014.
Scaldis is planning to use the vessel for installation of offshore infrastructure and decommissioning activities in deep water for the oil and gas industry and the installation of offshore wind farms.
In addition, the ship can also be used for any type of heavy lifting work such as the construction of bridge components and clearing shipwrecks.
With an onboard helipad and accommodation for 78 people, the vessel will also be able to perform other support services, the company said.
STX Offshore has secured orders worth more than $1bn so far this year.