Royal IHC has named and launched the pipelaying support vessel Sapura Rubi in a ceremony at the company’s shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, The Netherlands.

The Sapura Rubi was ordered by Sapura Navegação Marítima, a joint venture between SapuraKencana and Seadrill. It is the fifth in a series of five fully integrated pipelaying vessels that will be completely designed, engineered and built by IHC.

The vessel is destined to travel to Brazilian waters to develop deep-sea oilfields of up to 2,500 metres on behalf of Petrobras.

According to reports, the naming ceremony was performed by Ms. Glaucia Maciel, Human Resource Manager of Sapura Navegação Marítima S.A

The vessel will be equipped with a pipelaying spread designed and built by IHC, and two below deck storage carousels, with capacities for 2,500 t and 1,500 t of product respectively. A vertical (tiltable) lay system with a 550 t top tension capacity will be permanently installed for the deployment of a range of flexible products, and the tower orientation allows for maximum deck space.