The first of a series of 12 planned Platform Supply Vessels will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2010 Tidewater Inc., New Orleans, La., is planning to construct a series of 12 diesel- electric platform supply vessels (PSVs) based on a design from a Polish naval architect.

MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting Ltd. is supplying its MMC 887 PSV design for the series. The PSVs are being built at China's Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Ltd. The PSVs will be 87.2m x 18.8m x 7.4m, with a scantling draft of 6.2m and design draft of 5.9m. Each vessel will have a fresh water capacity of 660 m^sup 3^, ballast water/drilling water capacity of 1,800 m^sup 3^, fuel oil capacity of 945 m^sup 3^, liquid mud capacity of 2,491 m^sup 3^, and dry bulk capacity of 400 m^sup 3^.

The aft work deck area will be 1,000 m^sup 2^, with a deck cargo capacity of 1,000 tonnes.

Propulsion power will be supplied by four 2,145 hp diesel engines. The PSV will have a speed of 14.2 knots.

Tidewater chose diesel-electric propulsion because it offers greater operational flexibility and efficiency. With diesel- electric propulsion, for example, the crew can shutdown one or more of the engines when full power is not required.

The first MMC-887 PSV will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2010. Each of the Vanuatu-flagged vessels will be classed by ABS as +A1, (E) Offshore Support Vessel, +AMS, +DPS 2 and +FFV Class 1.

Copyright Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation May 2009

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