Maersk Connector is a multipurpose vessel combining the functions of an offshore supply ship with a cable layer. Unusually, she is bottom strengthened to go aground while fully loaded thanks to a high-capacity ballast system and seven-point mooring system which enables her to execute a controlled grounding. In so doing, she can independently operate at a shallow draft in laying cables close to shore and, if necessary, safely ground.

Able to lay 2 cables simultaneously, the vessel is designed to install large volumes of HVAC and HVAC power cables. Her first major cable lay project was from Belgium to the UK in 2018

Built by Damen Shipyards, Galati, Romania in 2016

Owned and operated by Maersk Supply Service

Chartered by DeepOcean

LOA 138.4m

Beam 27.5m

GRT 10,510 tons

Propulsion 14,080 BHP servicing 2 x Azipod main propellors

Bollard pull 71 tonnes

Helideck 21m diameter, max capacity 12 tonnes

Maximum crew capacity 90

 

Headquartered in Lyngby, Denmark, Maersk Supply Service provides offshore marine services for oil, gas and offshore wind customers. The company owns more than 30 vessels and has more than 1,000 employees both onshore and offshore.

 
Safely aground - Courtesy: Damen

Established in 2011 and based in Oslo, Norway, charterer DeepOcean describes itself as a technology-driven, independent solution provider offering companies within oil and gas, offshore renewables, deep sea minerals, and other non-energy niches a full range of services from surveys, engineering, project management, and installation to maintenance and recycling. The company has over 1200 staff.

Maersk Supply Service is also partnering with Louisiana-based Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) for the construction of vessels as part of Maersk’s feeder ship solution to offshore wind installations. This will include two tugs and two barges to be built for ECO by Bollinger Shipyards, Louisiana, in support of the installation system.

Maersk Supply Service has a large wind turbine installation vessel on order with Seatrim, Singapore (former Sembcorp Marine) for delivery in 2025. The intention is for the Norwegian registered vessel to be positioned on site and be fed by barges operating from a staging area at the nominated wind port. The barges and tugs will be registered in the U.S. to meet Jones Act requirements.

M.V. Aiviq was originally delivered in 20212 for long term charter to Royal Dutch Shell in order to support oil exploration and drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the coast of Alaska. Unfortunately, Shell's exploration program was terminated in 2015 after expenditure of around US$ 7 billion with the company having suffered several operational issues and disappointing drill results. The program was also opposed by environmental groups and was subject to an increasingly uncertain U.S. regulatory framework impacting Arctic exploration.

 

The diversion of vessels away from the Red Sea has many unintended consequences, most of course being logistical and financial. However, when it comes to cruise ships and livestock carriers, much more is at stake given the microscope that both sectors live under. One such livestock carrier diverted last month was the Israeli owned Bahijah while on passage from Australia to Jordan.

Having returned from a few weeks of cruising in mid December, including 26 days on Celebrity Edge, I decided to take the liberty of using her to kick off the 2024 selection of ships.

After being laid down in November 2016, Celebrity Edge was delivered at the end of October 2018 and began her maiden voyage in December 2018.

In early October this year, Japan’s NYK Line and Kyushu Electric Power Co. took delivery of the LNG powered Panamax class coal carrier M.V. Shoyo. NYK Line built the vessel under a long term contract to employ her primarily in supply Kyushu Electric’s coal-fired power plants in Japan.

Commissioned in May 2022 the self unloading bulk carrier Nukumi is purpose built to serve the Magdalene Islands Salt Mine and parts of Eastern Canada. Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) is a specialist in the operation of self unloading bulk carriers and Nukumi is no exception. She is equipped with a single-point loading system, which allows the vessel to take on cargo through a single hopper situated amidships. A conveyor belt on rails at the top of the cargo hold shifts to evenly distribute cargo and the 80m long unloading boom is equipped with a traversing belt to accommodate different discharge points without having to shift the vessel or the boom during discharge operations.

The era of dedicated merchant marine/navy cadet training ships has long since gone the way of the Dodo bird in most countries, however in the case of the United States, the tradition survives. The new build training ship Empire State was last month delivered to the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) by Philly Shipyard and TOTE Services, which is overseeing the program of constructing five new training ships to be distributed across the country. Empire State has been assigned to the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College which has a 150 year history in the training of future U.S. mariners.

Delivered to P&O Ferries earlier this year, the Fusion Class passenger/vehicle ferry P&O Pioneer is being promoted by her owners as the first double ended ferry to operate across the English Channel and the world’s largest double ended hybrid ferry. Such claims generate interest here in British Columbia given that BC Ferries operates several double ended ferries on it’s services between Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.

Last month, Adnoc Logistics and Services, a division of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, took delivery of a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) powered very large crude carrier (VLCC) from South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean (previously Daewoo Shipbuilding & Engineering). She is the second in a series of four dual-fuel VLCC’s for delivery this year, the first in series M.V. Hafeet having been delivered in June.

With ambitious net zero targets in mind, the world’s merchant fleet is not hanging around waiting for the International Maritime Organization. In particular, the major container carriers are moving swiftly although with differing philosophies. In the case of Maersk Line, the focus is on building a fleet based on carbon neutral methanol as the primary source of fuel, thereby bypassing the use of LNG as a transitional step.

In May 2021, HaiSea Marine announced the commissioning of an innovative and industry leading new battery powered and low emissions tugboat build program. The company, a joint venture majority owned by the Haisla First Nation in partnership with Seaspan ULC, is contracted with LNG Canada (partnered by Shell, PETRONAS, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation) to build and operate both escort and harbour tugs for vessels calling at a major new LNG export facility under construction in Kitimat, Northern British Columbia.

Norwegian fish carrier specialist Intership recently took delivery of the new build well-boat Inter Atlantic with a sister ship to follow. Well-boat, a term believed to originate from the 17th century, is a fishing vessel with a well or tank for the storage and transport of live fish. They are considered to be critical to salmon’s quality and fish-welfare.