Dutch offshore services giant Boskalis has expanded its fleet with a new vessel, which is currently getting ready to be converted from a pipe-laying vessel to a cable-laying one to further enrich its subsea operations offering.
Boskalis welcomed a new vessel, BOKA Ocean , to its fleet on Friday, 25 August 2023. This pipe-laying vessel, formerly named Apache II , is currently being prepared in Rotterdam for modification to a cable-laying vessel.
With an overall length of 136.6 m and breadth of 27 m, the vessel can accommodate 118 people in 71 cabins. The 2009-built BOKA Ocean is a sister vessel of the BOKA Northern Ocean and BOKA Southern Ocean , which Boskalis acquired in the past two years.
“A unique fact about the three sister vessels is that they all have a different function than initially as a pipe-laying vessel. The BOKA Northern Ocean and BOKA Southern Ocean have been modified into high-end construction support vessels that are carrying out a wide range of offshore activities. The BOKA Ocean is being converted into a specialist cable-laying vessel,” explained Boskalis.
The Dutch giant has worked on several projects this year. Most recently, the company wrapped up the removal of over one million barrels of oil from a decaying floating storage offshore (FSO) unit moored off the Red Sea coast of Yemen.
Prior to this, Boskalis’ largest semi-submersible heavy transport vessel completed its first ??????????????? ???????, which enabled it to take a floating production unit (FPU) to a ship recycling facility.