With first vessel in its arsenal, new subsea services company ready to roll

FreeStar Subsea Services, a new company in the market set up by the merger of Dutch companies Vriezoo ROV Services and Mark Offshore, has acquired its first vessel, marking the start of operations.

Managing Director of Vriezoo ROV Services Willem de Vries and Managing Director of Mark Offshore Mark van der Star started working on their collaboration in 2021, saying that they wanted to fill the gaps they had come across in the offshore support market.

Over the course of several years, the partners worked on developing the concept of offering a combination of ROV and survey support services, which came to life with the acquisition of FreeStar’s first vessel Navicula Star from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ).

The new company aims to offer a comprehensive suite of subsea services, including bathymetric and geotechnical surveys, cable protection, and burial operations.

Navicula Star is equipped with an onboard ROV, a crane, two davits and an A-frame with several winches, and can accommodate 11 people. The ROV control and survey desk are located inside at deck level. According to FreeStar, with a draft of only one meter, the vessel is also capable of beaching.

“With our fleet of 5 offshore and 4 inshore ROV systems and the Navicula Star, we can provide our clients with complete service offerings,” said De Vries. ”Safety is our top priority, and our procedures are ISO certified and comply with voluntary ISM standards.”

Although a diesel-powered vessel, Navicula Star will run on biofuel, such as HVO.

TechBinder was appointed to connect all electrical systems and optimize power management with its Smart Vessel Optimizer (SVO), with the help of which, Navicula Star will be the first 44-year-old vessel to become a truly “Smart Ship”, FreeStar said.

In terms of ROV and survey services, FreeStar is collaborating with Periplus and its GR:Dit system, an interactive map enabling users to store and analyze spatial geodata, to map all collected data, web-based.

“We are shallow draft and offshore specialists. With our own vessel, added with Vriezoo’s underwater inspection, repair and maintenance capabilities, FreeStar is looking forward to serve our existing and new clients around the globe. I am enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead and look forward to showcase the Navicula Star to our clients,” said Van der Star.