Page 41: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q4 2013)

cabotage requirements are also a consideration. Sponsons are installed to meet two compartment damage and stability and also to soften motion. Offshore cranes ranging from 50 to 200 metric ton lift capability are added to allow delivery and trans- fer of equipment. Heave compensated telescopic gangways are installed to deliver the maintenance labor from ship to rig. Most important is the development of the Dynamic Position- ing (DP) plot and the required bow and stern thruster power needed to meet the environmental conditions of the location. In that market, Kongsberg Maritime is a regular player. The European locations in the North Sea are generally con-sidered to require the most advanced DP systems in the world due to harsh weather and water conditions. On the other hand, North America and Latin America have historically required a large supply of low speciÞ cation accommodation barges fo- cused on shallow water and limited dynamic positioning. High speciÞ cation assets for the growing deep and ultra-deepwater market have moved towards semi-submersible rigs with sev- eral new construction projects being developed in Singapore and China. The large gap between high and low speciÞ cation location requirements has therefore created the market that the monohull conversions look to Þ ll with reduced capital and op- erational expense. Laurtizen Offshore A/S was Þ rst to deliver the Dan Swift, a 150 meter European RoPax converted to an accommoda- tion support vessel with cabins for 256 offshore workers and 11,000 kW of thruster power designed to maintain position on location. Edda Accommodation followed with the delivery SHIP CONVERSIONSHighclere Ltd, the new owners of the Bluefort, has recently completed continued conversion up- grades to their 141 meter, 450 man vessel in Naples, Italy with the help of Alternative Marine Technologies (Amtech). www.maritimeprofessional.com | Maritime Professional | 41MP #4 34-49.indd 41MP #4 34-49.indd 4112/11/2013 1:26:28 PM12/11/2013 1:26:28 PM