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Platform Supply Vessels

A Platform Supply Vessel [PSV] is a vessel specially designed for transport of supplies to/ from offshore installations, mainly to supply fields in productions. This involves the transport of individual items, mainly in containers on deck. In addition a PSV transports in segregated systems a variety of different products such as methanol, pre-blended drill fluids, brine, water and oil. The various fluids are contained in epoxy painted tanks, with individual pumps and hoses for discharging. Dry bulk cargo such as cement, barite and bentonite are also transported. At the installations this cargo is discharged by using compressed air.

Platform supply vessels are designed with large cargo capacities, superior fuel efficiency, and good sea keeping for safe operations offshore. The increase of exploration in deep water areas of the world has heightened the demand for these vessels as the requirement for greater cargo capacity to support today's drilling and production has grown substantially.

A PSV is a vessel specially designed for transport of supplies to/ from offshore installations, mainly to supply fields in productions. This involves the transport of individual items, mainly in containers on deck. In addition a PSV transports in segregated systems a variety of different products such as methanol, pre-blended drill fluids, brine, water and oil. The various fluids are contained in epoxy painted tanks, with individual pumps and hoses for discharging. Dry bulk cargo such as cement, barite and bentonite are also transported. At the installations this cargo is discharged by using compressed air. Many of the larger PSV have been employed in tranporting pipes for pipe-laying activities.

Oil and gas field developments are experiencing a push towards underwater production with more of the infrastructure placed on the seabed. There is thus an increasing need for transportation of objects with subsequent installation of the objects at the field. Also, with an increasing number of oil and gas fields being decommissioned, there is a growing need for removal of objects with subsequent transport to shore. Some of the objects that are to be installed or removed from the offshore sites are relatively complicated with large dimensions and weights. One is often dependent on costly vessels and equipment, and the availability of such vessels may also be poor. Based on these aspects there is a need to develop new and alternative methods for transport and installation/removal of objects, as conventional methods become unfit, inadequate or very expensive.

The more conventional methods are normally based on transporting the objects to the destination on deck of the installation vessel or a transportation barge, with subsequent offshore lift from deck and lowering of object through the splash zone/sea surface using a crane. Such operations set high demands to crane capacity and deck space, and can be very weather sensitive operations depending on type of object to be installed and the motion characteristics of the installation vessel(s). They further require costly construction vessels and potentially tying them up for long periods of time depending on weather.