Deutsche Offshore Schifffahrt has started construction of the DO Joule, the first vessel in a new fleet of Construction Commissioning Service Operation Vessels being built at the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou, China.
The company said the steel-cutting ceremony for the vessel took place on 5 March and marks the start of a four-ship series ordered by Schoeller Holdings.
Columbia Shipmanagement will assume technical management of the fleet while Deutsche Offshore Schifffahrt will act as developer, operator and commercial manager.
The companies added that delivery of the 96.25-metre-long and 20-metre-wide vessels is scheduled to begin in May 2027 with subsequent vessels handed over at three-month intervals.
The vessel class has been designed by Norwegian design house Salt Ship Design for offshore energy operations including construction, commissioning and operations and maintenance work.
The ships will feature a gangway capable of providing horizontal access to platforms between 12 metres and 30 metres above the waterline.
The vessels will also be equipped with dynamic positioning capabilities, a HiPAP hydroacoustic positioning system and a 12.4-ton helicopter deck.
Each vessel will have a modular working deck with 800 square metres of unobstructed space and a crane that can be reconfigured within 48 hours between a 50-ton active heave compensated setup and a 10-ton 3D-motion-compensated mode.
Accommodation onboard will house up to 95 technicians with hospitality services delivered by Columbia Signature.
PIC (from left): Rangel Vasilev, Director Newbuilding and Special Projects Columbia Shipmanagement, Johannes Wolters, Managing Director at Deutsche Offshore Schifffahrt, and Xu Qiung, Deputy General Manager CSSC HPWS