In line with its own sustainability efforts, Strategic Marine revealed its offshore support vessels of the future at Offshore Southeast Asia  2022 in Marina Bay Sands.

Chan Eng Yew, Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Marine, presented the company’s latest launches over the last 12 months.

Among them are the Generation 4 Fast Crew Boat (FCB), which is being constructed at the group’s Singapore yard, the StratCat 27, a crew transfer vessel (CTV) designed specifically for offshore windfarms and renewable energy markets, and a fast crew transfer vessel (FCTV) designed to replace helicopters.

Considering the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which focused on the future of energy, the new generation of vessels must also reduce emissions and carbon footprint. Mr Chan stressed the importance of reducing the carbon footprint during the asset’s operating life as well as during construction.

Commenting on the designs of these vessels during a presentation at the Knowledge Sharing Theatre in OSEA, he shared: “We aim to reduce operating costs, impact on the environment, as well as improve operational flexibility and safety.”

Technology and ship design are two ways Strategic Marine incorporates sustainability into shipbuilding. The Generation 4 FCB and StratCat 27 CTV, for example, have improved hull forms that improve engine efficiency or reduce emissions. Aside from this, the StratCat 27 has environmentally friendly features such as a green passport for recyclability and is coated with an anti-fouling paint that is silicon-based, which far from compromising the speed of its hybrid engine, helps the vessel to achieve half a knot increase in speed instead. Currently, a pair of hybrid StratCat 27s are under construction and their delivery in 1Q2023 will position Strategic Marine to be the first shipyard in Asia to introduce Hybrid CTVs.

On Strategic Marine’s push for hybrid systems, Mr Chan said: “Going hybrid has its advantages – reducing Opex (operating expenditure) by reducing wear and tear on system parts when hybrid systems can actually take over, reducing CO2 emissions, and of course, reducing fuel consumption.”

A vessel type dedicated to crew transportation, FCTV, has also been presented by Strategic Marine to operators seeking lower operating costs than helicopters. The FCTV is a catamaran powered by waterjets and compared to helicopters, it consumes significantly less fuel.

OSEA, the largest offshore energy event in Asia, runs from 15 to 17 November. Strategic Marine is one of the exhibitors at this event, and has a booth located at BC3-01.