Seismic Vessel to Become Hotel for OWF Staff

Dutch ship owner C-Bed has contracted Wärtsilä Ship Design to supply the design for rebuilding its Seismic Survey Vessel, the ‘Viking II’, for use as a hotel vessel.

According to Wärtsilä, the rebuilt ship will be used to accommodate and transfer service personnel working on offshore wind farms.

The rebuild project is being carried out at the Fayard AS shipyard in Denmark and is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2016.

Wärtsilä provided the original designs for the ‘Viking II’ earlier known as ‘Veritas Viking II’, which was built and delivered by Mjellem & Karlsen in 1999 to the original owners, Eidesvik of Norway.

However, Eidesvik Offshore’s subsidiary Eidesvik Shipping sold the vessel in August this year and already informed that it won’t be used for seismic ops with the new owner.

The vessel was previously operated by a French seismic contractor CGG.

After the conversion, the vessel will have accommodation and hotel facilities for 125 people and will feature a heave compensated gangway.

The converted vessel will fulfil the requirements for Special Purpose Ships and will in the future be named ‘Wind Innovation’.