APRIL 30, 2013 — Norway's Siem Offshore has entered into a shipbuilding contract with Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A., Poland. It covers the construction of a dynamically positioned cable lay vessel ("CLV") scheduled for delivery in April 2015.

The associated gross project cost for the vessel, ready for operation, is about $85 million.

The cable layer will work in combination with the wind farm installation support vessel (ISV) ordered from Fjellstrand by Siem Offshore in October 2012.

Siem says that the CLV has been designed in close cooperation with VARD Design and will have an overall length of 95.3 meters, a breadth of 21.5 meters, a cable payload of 4,250 tons and accommodations for 60 persons.

The CLV will be equipped with a state-of-the-art diesel- electric propulsion system consisting of four main generators providing power to two azimuth propulsion thrusters, two tunnel thrusters and one retractable thruster, ensuring excellent station-keeping capability as well as environmentally-friendly and fuel efficient marine operations.

The focus for the design of the CLV has been to meet the challenging requirements of the installation, repair and maintenance of medium and high voltage submarine cable systems within the offshore renewable energy and offshore oil and gas markets.

Siem Offshore says the contract for the CLV is the next step in its long term strategy to support its subsidiary Siem Offshore Contractors with high-end installation and support assets to further strengthen its ambition to become the leading provider in the area of submarine cable installation services.