First steel has been cut for Dutch offshore contractor Van Oord’s new subsea rock installation (SRI) vessel ‘Bravenes’.

Van Oord awarded the design and equipment contract for ‘Bravenes’ to Ulstein in September 2014 and contracted Sinopacific for the construction of the vessel. She is set to be delivered by end 2016.

Working in close cooperation with Van Oord, it is the first fully integrated design where the Dutch Ulstein companies have been responsible for the development and integration of both the mission equipment and vessel design, Ulstein noted.

The DP-3 vessel design features the distinct X-BOW® hull line and meets the requirements for Clean Design Notation, Green Passport and Ice Class 1A – PC7. The vessel and its equipment are designed for year-round operability in harsh weather and high-sea states.

Ulstein will also supply the main Fall Pipe Deployment system and the majority of the ancillary systems of the rock installation tower.