OOS Serooskerke Starts Sea Trials

The OOS Serooskerke semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV) was towed out of the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu on 9 October for thruster installation and to undergo sea trials in the waters around the Zhoushan archipelago.

The total length of the vessel is 137.75 metres, the molded width 81.0 metres, and the molded depth is 12.0 metres, with the towing vessel formation then being at 399 metres in length and the 101 metres in width.

“The width of the towing and the difficulty of the operation set a new record in the history of navigation on the Yangtze River. The entire Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River will implement downstream ship traffic control”, the vessel owner OOS International said.

OOS International ordered the construction of two SSCVs, OSS Walcheren and OOS Serooskerke, from CMHI in August 2016. The company then said they would be used for offshore wind installation and decommissioning, among other things.

OOS Serooskerke, as well as its sister vessel, features two heavy lift Huisman cranes with a combined lift capacity of 4,400 tonnes with subsea lifting and active compensation capability, and an enhanced dynamic positioning class 3 system (DP3) from Kongsberg.

According to OOS International, it is the world’s largest semi-submersible heavy-lifting life platform.

“Compared with the previous world’s largest semi-submersible heavy-lifting life platform ‘Pioneer Spirit’, this platform has the same functions but more advanced technology and information technology and more competitive construction costs”, the vessel owner said.

The company said earlier that the SSCVs could also be used for offshore accommodation and could house up to 750 people.

OOS Serooskerke was initially scheduled for delivery in mid-2019, while its sister vessel OSS Walcheren was planned to have been delivered in the first quarter of this year.