L-3 SAM Electronics to Equip Two Offshore Supply Vessels

L-3 SAM Electronics has been awarded a significant contract to provide the complete electrical package, including cable engineering and installation, energy distribution, propulsion, lighting and infotainment systems, as well as internal and external communications systems, for two offshore supply vessels for the Norwegian shipowner, Siem Offshore.

Built by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG), located in northern Germany, the 155-metre-long and 31-metre-wide ships are due to be delivered in February and July 2016.

The vessels comply with the MODU Code as well as the Ship-Shaped Well Intervention 2 classification and are already planned to be chartered by Helix Energy Solutions, a worldwide leading service company in the offshore market, servicing Brazilian offshore platforms and drilling sites.

Ulrich Weinreuter, president of L-3 Marine Systems International, sadi: “Following the successful recent completion of several comparable vessel installation projects, this award affords us yet another opportunity to demonstrate our range of specialized systems and expertise in supporting the global offshore shipping and platform industry.”

L-3’s propulsion solution offers four asynchronous motors for main propulsion, five tunnel thruster drives and two retractable thruster drives, each driven by an asynchronous motor and speed-controlled, low-voltage PWM converter, providing a combined total of roughly 30 MW of propulsion power. For power generation of the four high-voltage 6,6 kV switchboards, eight diesel alternators and motors will be installed. Power distribution will then be completed by 10 L-3 transformers for onboard low-voltage mains supply.

L-3 SAM Electronics will also deliver a specially designed multifunction IT network that is the basis for the VoIP telephones and base stations used for DECT telephony, IP TV distribution and the IP CCTV camera system. The assembly includes a high-precision clock facility with NTP server functionality.

The communications systems for offshore and nautical requirements will be supported by L-3’s two talk-back systems, the sound-powered telephones and the digital UHF communications systems, as well as a comprehensive range of GMDSS equipment. In accordance with class requirements, a public address and general alarm system will be included, as well as a fire and gas detection system for safety. Another scope of L-3 Sam Electronics’ supply comprises the complete lighting system.