Oceaneering Carries out Christening Ceremony of New MSV Ocean Evolution

The vessel has completed sea trials and received all necessary ABS and U.S. Coast Guard certifications and is currently in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, completing final outfitting and preparing for project work scheduled to begin in June.

The Ocean Evolution is the most advanced, U.S.-flagged, Jones Act-compliant, multi-service vessel (MSV) in the market. Its capabilities are headlined by its 250 mT active heave compensated (AHC) crane, two work-class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) with AHC launch systems, survey systems and subsea tooling all built for work in up to 4,000 m water depths. The vessel serves the deepwater stimulation and intervention needs of our customers with its well stimulation and well intervention design, ABS Well Stimulation and Well Intervention (WS/WI) ready notation and under deck capacity to store special products.

Mike Ellis, Vice President, Subsea Projects, said, “The Ocean Evolution is a world class vessel ready to service the construction and intervention needs of our customers in deepwater. We are excited about the upcoming integrated services that will be provided with this vessel when combined with Oceaneering’s portfolio of subsea products and services. This combination will provide unmatched productivity, safety, and value for many years to come.”

Key Features

Measuring 353 ft (108 m) long, 72 ft (22 m) wide and Light Ship weight 6,900 T, Ocean Evolution is an ABS class DP2 subsea multi-service vessel built in the US under Jones Act requirements for coast-wise trade of personnel and equipment. The vessel has accommodations for 110 persons, helideck and a working moonpool measuring 23 ft x 23 ft (7 m x 7 m).

The vessel’s 12,595 ft2 (1170 m2) steel-constructed deck is designed to carry heavy loads and equipment, which accommodates a wide variety of missions. The deck is rated to support 10 mT/m2 with a total cargo carrying capacity of 1,900 mT. The steel deck and on deck utilities including water, power, fuel and communications enables easier and faster loading, welding tie down and hook up of specialized deck equipment equipment during project mobilizations and demobilizations.

The vessel is equipped with a 250 mT AHC main crane with a 13,000 ft (4,000 m) working depth capacity. This crane has a special lifting mode that allows heavy lifts with alternate reeving of the boom eliminating the jib that provides increased hook heights of 118 ft (36 m) above the main deck. This provides the ability for crews to lift tall wellheads, large pin piles, and other oversized equipment off the deck utilizing the maximum lifting capacity of the crane. A second auxiliary crane on deck adjacent to the working moonpool is capable of 40 mT for lifting and handling of equipment on deck and to water depths of 600 ft (180 m).

Ocean Evolution features a unique layout bridge, configured with port and starboard redundant control stations. These control station locations provide bridge officers and DPOs a better view of crane operations, ROV deployment and simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) with other vessels and platforms on each side of the vessel. As a result, offshore operations are safer and more productive.

Ocean Evolution is built for reliability with five low-emission EPA Tier 4 diesel engines with a combined generating capacity of 16 MW on a three-bus system. The Tier 4 rating is the EPA’s strictest emission requirements for non-road diesel engines and the combination of five engines and third bus provides enough excess capacity to allow full capability and redundancy of the vessel if one engine is down for maintenance.

Ocean Evolution features enhanced station keeping capabilities, which allows it to maintain position even during extreme weather conditions. The vessel’s position is held using two tunnel thrusters and a drop down thruster in the bow along with two Azipull thrusters in the stern. Props on the propulsion systems can be turned 360⁰ and were designed to optimize dynamic positioning of the vessel. The vessel achieved an ERN station keeping reliability rating of 99.99.99.99 which is the highest rating possible further proving the ability of the vessel to keep station in difficult conditions.

The vessels design and construction was done with well stimulation and light well intervention in mind as a key capability. The underdeck storage capacity of up to 109,000 gal (413 m3) of special products maximizes use of the critical deck space for pumping and intervention equipment. The vessel layout and safety systems meet ABS class requirements for a special well stimulation and well intervention notation.

The vessel is equipped with two Oceaneering work class ROV systems. One 220 hp Millennium® Plus and one 250 hp NEXXUS systems are onboard each with active heave compensated launch and recovery systems installed in a custom indoor hanger for port and starboard launch. Integrated survey and communication systems round out permanently installed equipment that provide positioning and data services for all operations.

The features and capabilities for the vessel when integrated Oceaneering’s related products and services will provide customers with world class installation services for subsea tiebacks, solutions for subsea maintenance, repair and decommissioning and well stimulation and light well intervention services.