Wärtsilä Engines for Geo Vessel

The new offshore support vessel of Aker ROV 06 design will be equipped with Wärtsilä main engines. Wärtsilä Corporation has been awarded a contract worth about EUR 2.7 million in November 2005 by the Norwegian shipbuilder Aker Yards ASA to supply main engines for a new offshore support vessel contracted by the Norwegian subsea operations company Geo ASA.

The vessel will be constructed at Aker Yards' Søviknes shipyard in Norway, with delivery due in May 2007. Its main engines will be four six-cylinder Wärtsilä 32 diesel engines with a combined output of 11,520 kW at 720 rpm. Of the Aker ROV 06 design, the vessel will be employed in subsea operations, primarily for the offshore oil & gas industry. It will be capable of worldwide operation, including the northern oceans. The vessel will principally serve as a mothership for unmanned remotely-operated subsea vehicles (ROV) which can be launched by crane over both sides of the vessel as well as through a moon pool.

Important requirements concerning the choice of engines included low fuel consumption and fulfilment of the Clean Design notation of DNV classification. The Clean Design notation sets high environmental standards for the control and limiting of all types of emissions and discharges. These standards involve not only the choice of equipment in a vessel, and its installation design but also a vessel's operational procedures. Geo ASA carries out subsea operations in three main fields: seabed mapping of topography and other levels of sediments; inspection, maintenance and repair of offshore installations; and offshore construction support with ROV.

Geo ASA is a subsidiary of DOF ASA, a major owner and operator of offshore vessels. DOF is a long-established customer for Wärtsilä engines, having built some 20 vessels powered by 70 Wärtsilä engines.