vision

April 2014
Subsea market
set fair for continued growth
Reluctant shipowner
orders market leading vessel
CSS concept combines stable
platform and low charter rates
“The Nautical Institute and DNV GL SeaSkill certification schemes should be amalgamated
to meet the needs of regulators, flag states, vessel operators and oil companies.”
Chris Hawdon, chairman, C-Mar Group
yard profile
CIG focuses attention
on the offshore market
Central Industry Group in the
Netherlands, a group of companies
that includes many well-known
names in the Dutch ship design
and shipbuilding sector, is
repositioning itself and focusing
greater attention on vessels for
the offshore oil and gas and
renewables markets
D
escribing itself as an “innovation-driven,
technologically advanced organisation
operating in design, engineering and
production, with shipbuilding as a core activity,”
Central Industry Group (CIG) has long been
known for its innovative designs, but its move
into vessels for the offshore sector is a more
recent development. “What discriminates us
from most other shipbuilders is that we build our
ships in European yards, to Western European
standards, but cost-effectively, keeping build
costs and time-to-market as low as possible,” the
company noted recently.
Having developed the design of what has
quickly become a highly successful offshore
cargo supplier – the CIG 6000 GC-E, examples of
which have found work in the offshore oil and
gas and offshore wind sectors – more recently
CIG has developed designs for cost-effective
platform supply vessels (PSVs) and dive support
vessels (DSVs), and is looking at additions to
this range in the form of light construction/
subsea vessels.
CIG spokesperson Maarten Sickler, who is
technical director of CIG, one of CIG’s member
companies, said a number of examples of the
CIG 6000 GC-E design had now been built and
orders for more were anticipated shortly. Such
has been the sucess of the concept, he explained,
that CIG is also working on the design of
a new, larger version of the CIG 6000 GC-E
which would incorporate an offshore access/
transfer system for personnel, which would be
particularly well suited for work on offshore
windfarms that are further offshore than those
developed to-date.
The VG 6000-E is a dynamically-positioned,
cost-effective vessel that resulted from CIG’s
studies. Having entered service with companies
such as Abis Shipping in the Netherlands, the
VG 6000-E has been widely used as a feeder
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vessel on offshore windfarms, where its high
carrying capacity and especially stable hullform
has proved to be a winning combination. “It
used to be said that a feeder vessel for offshore
windfarms, carrying turbine blades or transition
pieces, wasn’t really possible,” Mr Sickler told
OSJ. “It was said that the rolling motions of such
a vessel would make it impossible to transfer
heavy items such as a transition piece at sea.
“We proved the doubters wrong, and
successfully developed a feeder vessel design
which had the required deadweight and very
low rolling motions. What is more, because
the design complies with the requirements of
an open-top vessel, we can ship monopiles or
transition pieces in upright position, which
significantly enhances operations once in
position on the windfarm.” The vessel has its
superstructure towards the bow to allow for
the largest possible deck space, and cargocarrying reinforced tank tops, and reinforced
and removable tween decks and hatch covers.
All of the hatch covers can be removed and
stowed at one end of the cargo hold or on deck
to allow the vessel to be completely open.
However, the VG 6000-E hasn’t only been
used in the offshore wind sector. Mr Sickler
explained that one example of the type, Amasus
Shipping’s Jaguar, has also been used in the
offshore oil and gas market, where its ability to
carry significantly more pipe than a conventional
PSV was particularly useful.
CIG’s approach to the designs it has proposed
for PSVs and DSVs was to focus on the need
for cost-effective workhorses for markets such
as West Africa and South America. Mr Sickler
said it is definitely not trying to compete with
well-known designs from Norwegian designers
CIG is developing a range of offshore
vessel designs, including this PSV
aimed primarily at the North Sea market.
“We looked at what the market in these areas
really requires,” said Mr Sickler. “What is clear
is that a highly specified, North Sea-type vessel
isn’t the right approach. Customers in these
markets need a cost-effective vessel that is easy
to maintain and has low life-cycle costs. That
was our start point for the CIG PSV-2700 and
the CIG DSV-60.”
The result is a versatile PSV primarily
designed to supply mud, brine, fuel and
containers. The VG 2700-PSV has two propellers,
which are electrically driven, and two bow
thrusters which provide the positioning
capability required for dynamic positioning
(DP2) and optimal manoeuvrability. “The vessel
is a smaller unit than some PSVs, but with
high capacities and is especially suitable for
mud handling,” Mr Sickler explained. It has a
protected, covered deck facility for mud mixing,
a low freeboard, diesel-electric propulsion and a
shallow draught.
The DSV-60 is a medium size diving support
vessel providing accommodation for 60 people.
It complies with the requirements of the Special
Purpose Ships (SPS) code and the propulsion
takes the form of four azimuthing thrusters,
two aft and two forward. The dynamicallypositioned vessel is suitable for a variety of
diving support activities in combination with a
50-tonne crane. “It is a versatile small unit, with
a flexible operational profile, a shallow draught,
with no thrusters below the keelplate, dynamic
positioning to DP2 and fire-fighting to FiFi 1
standard if required,” he concluded, noting
that negotiations are ongoing with a number
of clients for versions of the VG 6000-E and the
new offshore support vessels. OSJ

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