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42 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News By David Tinsley If ever a country were to seek a tem- plate for maximizing the economic and technological benefits of an offshore energy resource across the industrial spectrum it would do well to examine the Norwegian model. A prodigious out- put of designs, equipment and ships to support offshore production and explo- ration activities in very difficult environ- ments provides just one example of the manner in which Norway's industry has advanced in concert with the tapping of oil and gas reserves in its adjacent waters. The particular demands of the national market have fostered a techno- logical level and diversity that is finding ever-wider application overseas. Through prudent recourse to hull con- struction in low wage cost areas of east- ern Europe, coupled with productivity- related investments at home, the avail- ability of key trade skills, and innova- tive, higher value-added design, Norwegian shipbuilders have remained pre-eminent in the more sophisticated types of offshore support vessel. The strength of the indigenous maritime cluster with regard to equipment, machinery, and systems has undoubted- ly helped ensure critical mass, such that the west coast is dotted with premises turning out ships built to serve the evolving requirements of the offshore oil and gas industries. The character of the sector is amply illustrated by recent completions such as the multifunctional deepwater construc- tion vessel and anchor-handler Normand Installer. Built by Ulstein Verft to a design drawn up by Vik-Sandvik, she is truly state-of-the-art, combining a broad range of construction and installation competencies with a bollard pull capaci- ty of some 275-tons. The measure of the Normand Installer, at nearly 124-m in length, may be gauged from her incor- poration of two working decks, 4,300- ton deck load capacity, 250-ton pedestal crane, 350-ton stern A-frame, Class III dynamic positioning, ROVs (remote- operated vehicles), moonpool, helicop- ter deck, and the largest anchor-handling winch ever supplied by Rolls-Royce Marine. Delivered into a joint venture of Norwegian support vessel specialist Solstad Shipping and Monaco-based Single Buoy Morrings (SBM), the diesel-electric Normand Installer has been despatched to duties off West Circle 274 on Reader Service Card Norway Offshore Success: Look to Norway Multifunctional offshore construction vessel and anchor-handler Normand Installer, built by Ulstein Verft to a Vik-Sandvik design. The picture was taken before installation of the stern roller and stern A-frame. MR APRIL2006 #6 (41-48).qxd 4/3/2006 1:50 PM Page 42
