The shipping industry is continuing the rapid adoption of methanol which is quickly emerging as the alternative fuel of choice for new vessel construction. The latest example comes from a Norwegian offshore and subsea installation contractor for energy and telecommunication industries, Cecon Contracting, which reports it has signed a construction contract for “a ground-breaking state-of-the-art cable installation vessel.”
The vessel was designed by Norway’s NSK Ship Design together with Cecon’s engineering team. She will be built at Sefine Shipyard and is scheduled for delivery in Q1 2025. SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge funded the project.
Cecon along with its partners entered into an agreement for the construction of the new vessel to support the offshore industries. They report that the design is prepared for typical offshore wind services as well as light construction work with the capability of working in exposed waters.
NSK reports that the “green profile” of the vessel with a methanol/battery propulsion system, will reduce emissions by up to 75 percent. The vessel will have a capacity for 700 cubic meters of methanol with the methanol genset consisting of four 1500 kWe units. The vessel will measure 328 feet in length and have over 10,000 square feet of deck space as well as a 70 ton crane. She will have accommodations for up to 100 persons and a capacity for 2,800 tons of cable in an underdeck storage tank in addition to Cecons modular on-deck cable storage tank.
“One of the main design objectives has been to develop a modern environmentally friendly cable ship without compromising on vessel capacities,” said Cecon. “The vessel will be delivered with a methanol dual-fuel system and with a battery pack for hybrid energy storage.”
The company added that extensive operational experience has been applied to develop a versatile work platform, allowing the vessel to operate in other segments of the offshore industry when not installing cables.
