IHC Merwede Launches Subsea 7 Vessel

IHC Merwede has successfully launched Subsea 7'ss 550t pipelaying vessel, Seven Waves, at its shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, The Netherlands. The naming ceremony was carried out by Mrs Lucia Andrade, the ship’s God Mother and Subsea 7 Brazil’s Vice President Projects & Operations.

The Seven Waves is the fifth vessel contracted by Subsea 7 to IHC Merwede’s Offshore division. The other ships were launched and delivered under the names of: the Seven Oceans (pipelaying); the Seven Seas (pipelaying and construction); the Seven Atlantic (diving support); and the Seven Pacific (pipelaying). Subsea 7 selected IHC Merwede (among others) for this latest vessel due to its efficiency and reliability in delivering all four previous orders on time and meeting the required level of quality.

IHC Offshore & Marine designed the ship in close cooperation with Subsea 7. She will have an overall length of 146 meters, a beam of 30 meters and a Class-2 dynamic positioning system. The vessel is equipped with a vertical (tiltable) lay system -- with 550t top tension capacity -- and twin ROVs. She is fitted with two under-deck storage carousels, with a capacity for 2,500t and 1,500t of product respectively. The lay tower can operate at an angle of up to 10° and is fitted with: two tensioners, each with a 275t capacity, which can both be retracted clear of the firing line, and two wire centralisers. The keel-laying ceremony was held one month ahead of schedule and the delivery of the vessel will be as planned in the first half of 2014. This pipelaying ship will be used to develop deep-sea oilfields of up to 2,500 meters off the coast of Brazil on behalf of Petrobras.