Hornbeck Offshore Services takes delivery of MPSV converted into a high-spec SOV

Originally designed as an offshore supply vessel, HOS Rocinante was converted at Eastern Shipbuilding Group’s Allanton and Port St Joe Shipyards in Panama City, Florida, and is one of two unfinished multi-purpose support vessels (MPSVs) the shipowner decided to complete and upgrade.

The vessels began their lives at Gulf Island Shipyards before construction was halted in 2018 when the owner terminated construction agreements. The fate of the vessels was tied up in court for years, until October 2023, when the shipbuilder and owner dropped their claims, with the yard agreeing to release the unfinished MPSVs to the surety, Zurich American Insurance. The surety signed an agreement with Hornbeck to complete the construction of the vessels at another shipyard approved by the owner.

The conversion has transformed HOS Rocinante into an SOV engineered to provide accommodation, safe personnel transfer, and multi-day offshore operation in the offshore wind and offshore oil and gas markets.

Key elements of the conversion included installing a walk-to-work motion-compensated gangway and other personnel transfer solutions; enhanced dynamic positioning and propulsion capability for precise station-keeping; upgraded accommodation and workspace; improvements to cargo handling and client warehousing and storage systems; and installing an energy storage system for enhanced power reserve and improved failure mode operability.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group chief executive Joey D’Isernia described the upgraded vessel as “one of the most capable multi-market offshore support assets in the US fleet.”