VESSEL REVIEW | Brouwersgracht – Netherlands’ Spliethoff welcomes heavy-lift ship pair for offshore and project cargo transport

Dutch shipping company the Spliethoff Group recently welcomed two newbuild vessels to its fleet of project cargo ships.

Named Brouwersgracht and Bloemgracht after two famed canals in the city of Amsterdam, the vessels were built for Spliethoff by Fuzhou Mawei Shipyard in China to a design by Dutch naval architecture firm Conoship International. The DP2-capable vessels were each designed to combine the capabilities of an ice-strengthened multi-purpose vessel with a deadweight of some 12,500 tonnes.

Each ship has an LOA of 141 metres, a beam of 25 metres, a draught of six metres, two tween deck levels, and a total deck space of 5,900 square metres. For fast, safe, and efficient loading and unloading of pipes both on- and offshore, the vessels are each equipped with a removable gantry crane controlled by a dedicated automated system, while two Huisman 500-tonne heavy lift mast cranes are available for handling other types of cargo. The DP2 systems meanwhile ensure safe station keeping even under Beaufort force six conditions, endowing Brouwersgracht and Bloemgracht with similar station keeping ability as smaller supply vessels.

The propulsion system delivers a speed of nine knots. To comply with the strict regulations regarding SOx and NOx emissions, the propulsion and power generation systems are fitted with SOx scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems.

Spliethoff said that Brouwersgracht and Bloemgracht are already booked for their first pipe supply and offshore installation contracts, securing work until early in the second quarter of 2024. Both vessels will be technically and commercially operated by the Spliethoff Group companies Spliethoff and BigLift Shipping.