Farstad Shipping Gets “Ship of the Year 2012” Award at SMM

Farstad Shipping Gets  Ship of the Year 2012 Award at SMM

Today at a ceremony at the SMM 2012 exhibition in Hamburg, Germany, Farstad Shipping’s new PSV Far Solitaire was awarded «Ship of the Year 2012» by Skipsrevyen.

Being a value driven company, it is Farstad Shipping’s goal to be a leading provider of quality services with considerable focus on safety, technology and environmental considerations. Far Solitaire delivers on all of these criteria, and we are honoured and very pleased to receive this acknowledgement“, says Karl-Johan Bakken, CEO of Farstad Shipping.

Farstad Shipping was also awarded the Ship of the Year Award in 2009 for the subsea vessel Far Samson.

Far Solitaire is a platform supply vessel (PSV) specially designed to meet the increasing demand from the oil and gas industry for transport of noxious liquid substances (NLS products) to and from the offshore installations. Handling NLS products may entail hazard, and transportation is subject to strict regulations. Conventional offshore supply vessels are limited to transport maximum 800 cubic metres of NLS products at the time, which often may be considered insufficient for the petroleum companies. Farstad Shipping’s latest addition to its fleet is in compliance with the requirements for chemical tankers (IBC Code 2 compliant) in this respect, and can carry more than 1 600 cubic metres of NLS products at the time.

The jury has in particular emphasized the following:

Far Solitaire is the first PSV developed and built as an IBC Code 2 (chemical tanker) compliant offshore supply vessel, which is the main reason why the jury elected this vessel as Ship of the Year 2012. The vessel is capable of undertaking all aspects of offshore oilfield services, including transportation of unlimited quantities of noxious liquid substances. During the project development it has been paid strong focus to the impact on the environment the construction and operation of this vessel would cause through its lifespan.

Other features highlighted by the jury are her wave-piercing bow design, the development of a new cargo rail crane concept for PSVs and the introduction of the frequency converter for the swing up thruster as power supply for shore power.

Farstad Shipping

Maritime cluster

The vessel is developed by Farstad Shipping in close cooperation with Rolls Royce Marine Ship Technology Offshore and is built by STX OSV Langsten Yard in Tomrefjord, Norway. DNV (Det Norske Veritas) has also given important contribution in guidance and approvals. Therefore, Far Solitaire is a result of the close cooperation between multiple representatives within the maritime cluster in the western part of Norway.

The «Ship of the Year»-award is in many ways an award to the entire maritime cluster that Farstad Shipping is a part of”, says Bakken.

We are building on the strong maritime traditions still existing along the coast of Norway, and the local commitment to innovation has created the foundation for the unique position Norwegian offshore companies enjoy globally.

 Unique design

Far Solitaire is designed and built including a number of innovations in addition to the liquid cargo handling systems, which utilize submerged pumps and segregated piping systems to avoid mixing of different products.

The vessel’s hull shape has Rolls Royce’s «Wave Piercing» bow design, which provide better seakeeping capabilities, increased comfort and reduced fuel consumption. Other innovations include among others new dual draglink cargo rail crane concept, engine and switchboard configuration to optimize fuel consumption, in addition to a new generation electric shore connection which will increase the utilization of renewable energy when the vessel is alongside in port.

 The crew is paramount

Far Solitaire will be delivered to Farstad Shipping in beginning of October 2012. The timing of her delivery does not overly concern Karl-Johan Bakken in spite of the current weak spot market.

This is a renewal of our fleet and a part of our long term strategy. It is our belief that these kinds of innovative, flexible and environmentally superior vessels will be increasingly important to the market, he says.

The Farstad CEO is more concerned with securing the best crew possible.

Regardless of technological development, the people on board are our most important resource. Qualified and competent employees are becoming more and more important as vessels become more complex and advanced. Our ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees is the key to our success,Bakken says.

[mappress]
Press Release, Septembar 6, 2012