Tri-fuel OSV to reduce charterer’s vessel emissions by 30%

Independent oil and gas company Wintershall Dea will do just that by chartering one of the world’s few tri-fuel OSVs.

Wintershall Dea expects to reduce annual emissions on supply vessel services to the Brage platform by up to 30%, by employing the LNG-fuelled, battery-hybrid Viking Princess starting in December.

“The new contract with Eidesvik Offshore for supply vessel services to the Brage platform supports Wintershall Dea’s continuous effort to reduce emissions from its activities on the Norwegian Continental shelf,” said Wintershall Dea in a press statement.

Norwegian OSV owner Eidesvik reported the charter was for 12 months starting December 2020, with options for extensions.

“We are very satisfied with having secured Viking Princess as our supply vessel for Brage,” said Wintershall Dea Norge managing director Alv Solheim. “The state-of-the-art vessel will enable us to reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 2,400 tonnes a year, the equivalent of running 1,200 cars,” Mr Solheim added.

One of the few tri-fuel OSVs in the world, the 90-m long, 24-m wide Viking Princess has dual fuel capacity (MGO and LNG) and a battery package for effective energy management.

Besides serving Brage, Viking Princess will provide services to the nearby Veslefrikk, and Statfjord A, B, and C platforms through a collaboration agreement with Equinor, which since starting in May this year, already has substantially increased the efficiency of the logistics in the area.

Another step in the right direction

“We are always looking for ways to make our operations more efficient both in terms of cost and environmental footprint. Contracting Viking Princess is yet another step in the right direction,” said Wintershall Dea vice president for production Børge Nerland.

Eidesvik Offshore was a pioneer in the use of LNG as a fuel in the marine industry, introducing Viking Energy, the first dual-fuel, diesel-electric-powered platform supply vessel in the world in 2003. Viking Energy’s diesel-electric plant consists of four Wärtsilä 6L32DF dual-fuel engines, each with an output of 2,010 kW at 720 rpm, driving the main generator sets. It has since been outfitted with batteries, making it a tri-fuel PSV.

Just prior to securing the charter of Viking Princess, Eidesvik Offshore reported a contract to support Belgium’s DEME Offshore in the offshore wind sector. DEME Offshore chartered the offshore construction vessel Viking Neptun for a fixed period of 84 days starting 1 November, with options for extensions.

Built in 2015, the Salt 301 design CSV Viking Neptun was fitted this year with a battery-hybrid system, with Wärtsilä serving as the system integrator and Corvus Energy supplying the its Corvus Orca energy storage system (ESS). The 1,740 kWh ESS is used for continuous peak shaving and as a spinning reserve during sudden surges in power demand.

Viking Neptun has Wärtsilä engines and Wärtsila’s Low Loss Concept electrical systems. By choosing Wärtsilä’s battery hybrid solution, the ship can operate on a single generator set together with batteries during dynamic positioning operations.

Viking Neptun has an overall length of 145.6 m, beam of 31 m, maximum draught of 9 m, with accommodation for 150. Dynamic position class 3 capable, it is equipped with two remotely operated vehicles, has a 400-tonne active heave compensation (AHC) main crane and 100-tonne AHC auxiliary crane, making it extremely capable for offshore construction and subsea support activity.