Page 48: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2017)

Design

Offshore Innovation

Vard

A Real ‘Riverboat’

Central Asia is a booming oil region not far from the Persian Gulf. Energy companies ply the big lake to rack up stag- gering barrel counts at elephantine oil? elds with names like Tengiz (Kazakhstan) or Kashagan (Azerbaijan). Painstak- ing, oil-fueled nation-building is underway across an oil province, where very shallow water hinders plant and equip- ment moves by platform supply vessels. Until now — new module-carrying vessels, or MCVs will ? oat high-capital cargoes through Russia’s river system and across the Caspian shallows to Chevron’s Tengiz Extension project.

BY WILLIAM STOICHEVSKI ard Holdings’ Romanian The MCVs — which look like stretched trolled a ? eet of 100 offshore support Topaz tips another reason for owning and Vietnamese shipyards PSVs — will carry pre-fabricated mod- vessels — including 34 OSVs in Ka- and operating MCVs: “costly, techni- have received orders in ules to the oil and gas installations of zakhstan. The company already earns cally challenging and time-consuming

V2016 to build 20 MCVs: Western Kazakhstan. Some of this pro- 60 percent of its revenue in the Caspian, modi? cations may (otherwise) be re- 17 for ship operator Topaz Energy & cess plant is being built in the Far East where its market share is about 50 per- quired to allow vessels to pass,” and ves-

Marine and three for Kazakhstan’s Ka- for transport to the Russian Far North cent. “Due to the high physical barri- sels modi? ed or ? agged in any state oth- zmorttrans? ot, or KMTF. The orders and then through the inland waterway to ers to entry in the Caspian for (regular er than Russia must be towed (to use the came quickly — in May (15), August the Caspian depot of Prorvo at the Ten- OSVs), the market is dominated by long- Russian waterway), and that incurs “sig- (three) and September (two). Of the giz oil? eld. term contracts,” the company says. Ri- ni? cant costs, depending on the route ? rst 15, ? ve are being built at Braila and vals, too, know it’s “dif? cult and costly and availability of towage vessels.” four at Tulcea, both in Romania, and six to mobilize equipment to the region.” So, at least one of the two consortia

World-wide First went at Vard’s Vung Tau Vietnam ship- “No suitable vessels for the jobs exist Vessels can only make their way to the headed by Blue Water — the Topaz con- yard. The three vessels for KMTF, also world-wide,” says Vard Holdings ex- Caspian from the north via the Volga- sortium — seems to be ? agged in Rus-

Romanian builds, will be wider, for the ecutive vice president, Holger Dilling. Baltic waterway or, from the Black Sea, sia, with the three wider MCVs to ply the

Caspian’s shallows. Acting as project “Needless to say, the white boxes on via the rivers Don and Volga. Making Caspian only. Topaz also cautions that manager, Blue Water Shipping leads the all our renderings are just placeholders, things harder, the waterway generally customs and government agency “in- two consortia that’ll own and operate the not big containers. But they do show the freezes and closes from November to spections, authorizations and approvals”

MCVs: with KMTF and with Topaz. dimensions of the potential payloads, March. require pricy fees. “These restrictions

The 17 Vard 9 21 designs for Topaz are which can weigh up to 1,800 tons per represent high barriers to entry and have designed to transport modules through unit.” Dilling, who also heads Vard’s led to the OSV market in the Caspian

Caspian Hurdles the Russian waterway of canals, rivers investor relations, con? rms Topaz asked Topaz says the purpose-built MCVs region becoming highly concentrated and lakes stretching from the Baltic Sea Vard in September to design and build are “shallow-draft deck carrier vessels with only nine OSV suppliers” in this, in the north to oil? elds in Kazakhstan two more of the 123 x 16.5 meter MSVs with low air draft and a high-capacity the world’s largest lake at 1,000 miles in the south. Tengizchevroil, or TCO, ($40 million for two) MCVs. They’ll be ballast system”. They are diesel-electric, long. Another obstacle to this market, is the oil? eld joint venture of Chevron, identical to the 15 ordered earlier in the DP2 with “excellent maneuvering” and for some, is the rigid local application of

ExxonMobil and local partners in need year by the Dubai-based Gulf of Mexico equipment from “leading western sup- MARPOL 73/78 banning the discharge of the logistics Blue Water will arrange. player. Before these orders, Topaz con- pliers.” of garbage, sewage or oily water. 48 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • FEBRUARY 2017

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