Swire Pacific Offshore Launches New D Class Vessel ‘Pacific Duchess’

Shipowner and operator, Swire Pacific Offshore Operations (Pte) Ltd (SPO) celebrated the latest addition to its existing D Class fleet with the launch and naming of Pacific Duchess.

The ceremony was held in the late evening of 20 August 2013, Tuesday at Singapore Technologies Marine (ST Marine) shipyard in Singapore. Graced by Lady Sponsor, Ms Lilian van IJzendoorn, the event was attended by over 80 staff and family members of SPO and ST Marine, many of whom have been actively involved in the project since its inception.

Pacific Duchess is scheduled to be delivered in early 2014. This is the fourth of a series of six D Class vessels under contract from ST Marine for SPO. Please refer to Appendix A for the Fact Sheet of Pacific Duchess.

“The launch and naming ceremony of Pacific Duchess is another milestone for SPO as we continue to develop our deepwater anchor handling capability. Once delivered, Pacific Duchess will join her sister vessels in our modern fleet of fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly offshore support vessels, Pacific Defiance, Pacific Diligence, Pacific Dolphin, to serve the needs of our customers across the world,” says Managing Director, Mr Neil Glenn.

The D Class vessels are well-equipped with advanced technical capabilities to support the latest generation of semi-submersible rigs operating in harsh deep water environments. Built to clean-class SPS 2008 and ice notations, these Havyard-designed vessels are designed to be fuel-efficient, to reduce environmental impact in whichever roles they are deployed to perform and to enhance safety during demanding deck anchor handling operations. They possess large capacity 500 MT RRM Brattvagg winches, latest dynamic positioning technology, enhanced station keeping with independent drop down azimuth thrusters, anchor recovery frame (ARF) and travelling cranes. The vessels also have ample cargo capacity and deck space for a wide range of other offshore applications.

SPO aims to have eight D Class vessels in its fleet by the end of 2014. Vessels in the series delivered to date include Pacific Defiance (February 2013), Pacific Diligence (April 2013) and Pacific Dolphin (August 2013). Pacific Dove has been launched and is expected to be delivered in December 2013. The four remaining vessels in the series, Pacific Duchess, Pacific Discovery, Pacific Dispatch and Pacific Dragon will be delivered in 2014.

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Swire Pacific, August 21, 2013