Greatship Ragini floats for the first time

Greatship Ragini, the final vessel of a series of three Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessels being built by Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) for Greatship Global Offshore Services Pte Limited of Singapore, was ceremonially launched at the auspicious time of 02:07 p.m. on 28 September 2012.

The ceremonial launching marked the floating of the vessel for the first time by admitting water in to the Shipbuilding Dock No.2. This ceremonious procedure was performed by Owner’s Representative V.K. Chandrasekaran (General Manager – New Building Offshore Logistics) in the presence of Classification Society Surveyors Sirinath Herat, Ajith Wijesinghe (Lloyds Register), and Ajith Perera, and Sarath Dharmarathne (Indian Register of Shipping).

Mangala Yapa (MD/CEO, CDPLC), Y. Kijima (Director), N. Nishida (Alternate Director/Technical Advisor) and a host of senior managers including D.V. Abeysinghe (GM-P&E), Ranil Wijegunawardena (GM-F) and the project management team led by R.D.J. Sumanasiri (Special Projects Manager) participated at the event.

This vessel designed by Seatech Solutions International (S) Pte Ltd. of Singapore shall be incorporated with an oil recovery arrangement and shall have the capability to operate as an advanced PSV, as well as, light construction support vessel, complying to SPS Code 2008, Clean Design requirements.

Now the vessel will proceed to the next step in the shipbuilding process, which is outfitting in the areas of deck, accommodation, machinery, piping, electrical and painting. Once these activities are completed, the vessel shall undergo a strict process of testing, commissioning and sea trials. All these work is scheduled to be completed and the vessel will be delivered by December 2012.

The main role of this vessel is to support offshore oil and gas fields around the clock and the Vessel will have an endurance of 35 days and a cruising range of about 9,200 nautical miles. Designed for operation worldwide and with an outstanding speed of 13.8 knots, the vessel can get to the desired location around the world as quickly as possible, minimising downtime. The Vessel shall be built for operation in un-restricted waters.

Twin controllable pitch propellers, twin high lift rudders and transverse bow and stern thrusters provide good manoeuvrability and station keeping ability. The vessel shall be controlled from twin manoeuvring consoles fitted in the wheelhouse, forward and aft stations with ‘joy-stick’ controls. The vessel shall also be equipped with advanced dynamic positioning (DP AA) system which assures safe and more efficient operations while working in close proximity to oil platforms/rigs, even under the harsh weather conditions.

The vessel shall be equipped with a fully automated bridge layout with alarm monitoring systems for periodic single man bridge operation, and will be classed with ‘NAV1’ notation. The vessel shall be fitted with automated installations enabling machinery spaces to remain periodically unattended in all sailing conditions including manoeuvrings, qualifying it to be assigned with ‘UMS’ notation.

The vessel is also designed to have an enhanced accommodation area for 50 persons. These accommodation areas shall be well-appointed and aesthetically designed with special attention made to noise and vibration levels and crew comfort onboard the vessel, thereby meeting compliance to ‘CAC3’ notation of the classification society.

The vessel shall also be classed with ‘In Water Survey,’ denoting the vessel could be operated without being dry-docked for five years. Due to this, surveying the underwater parts of the vessel could be carried out while the vessel is still afloat instead of having to dry dock the vessel for examination of the underwater areas, as is conventionally done. This is a huge saving for the owner. In addition, the vessel shall also be equipped with tail shaft monitoring system which is a huge advantage for the owner in his quest for monitoring of temperature and condition in the tail shafts.

In addition to the dry bulk carrying capability, the vessel shall also be capable of carrying methanol, which is a low flash point liquid. In order to prevent any fire risks, a special deck foam fire fighting and prevention system has been installed for safety and shall be designed, constructed and outfitted complying with the latest rules and regulations applicable to a Vessel of this type and size. The plan approval and survey during construction will be performed Lloyds Register and the Indian Register of Shipping.