Vroon Offshore order further four support vessels from Spanish shipyard
Total of 13 vessels of this type ordered from Zamakona...

Vroon Offshore Services (VOS) have today (Tuesday, 4 December 2007) announced an order for an additional four field support vessels – with an option for a further two – as the next phase of its fleet investment programme.

The order for the IMT 955L field support vessels has been placed with the Astilleros Zamakona Pasaia S.L. shipyard in Spain.

This latest order brings the total number of new-build IMT 955 field support vessels ordered from Zamakona to 13.

Three vessels have been delivered to date in 2007 and a fourth is to be delivered in early December 2007. The remaining nine vessels are scheduled to become operational during the period 2008 to 2011.

All of the vessels can provide both deck and under-deck cargo support, in addition to emergency response and rescue cover for multiple offshore installations, utilising their daughter craft and fast-rescue craft. All are powered by diesel electric-propulsion systems.

In addition to the 13 Field Support Vessels, VOS has four T Class conventional emergency response and rescue vessels (ERRV) on order from Damen in The Netherlands, with two being delivered in 2007 and two in 2008.

Graham Philip, Chief Executive Officer of Vroon Offshore Services’ UK operations, said: “This latest order brings Vroon’s total investment programme in the ERRV sector to more than £110million (Euro 150 million) and clearly demonstrates Vroon’s commitment to, and confidence in, this important market.”

VOS currently operates a total of 58 vessels from bases in Aberdeen, Scotland; Den Helder, The Netherlands; and Genoa in Italy, and has a total of 23 new build vessels on order.

Its fleet includes conventional and multi-role ERRVs, platform supply, anchor handling, dive support and utility vessels, operating principally in the North Sea and the Mediterranean.

Earlier Vroon announced the order for four 92,500 DWT bulk carriers at Cosco's Dalian Shipyard in China. The four new vessels are expected to join the fleet in 2009 and 2010.

Vroon already has two Panamax bulk carriers on order at Tsuneishi Shipyard in Japan and three Supramax bulk carriers at Vinashin Nam Trieu in Vietnam.