After four weeks towing from Turkey, Havyard`s newbuild 120 «Polarsyssel», arrived the shipyard in Leirvik today. The hull will be completed there and is due to be delivered to the Icelandic shipping company Fafnir Offshore at the end of August this year. The newbuild is the first of the 832 L WE design, and will amongst various jobs be involved in assignments for the district governor of Svalbard.

Applied research
Since 2011 Havyard has carried out comprehensive research and development work with focus on hull lines and how this may affect slamming, motions and not least fuel consumption and emissions. In order to achieve considerable improvement you need to look into all details – not just thruster and bow. Both MARINTEK and MARIN, who are amongst the leading research environments in Europe, have been actively involved in the development. Havyard has also found extremely useful the advanced measurements carried out at their own shipyard during all test voyages over the last few years. – There we manage to control any possible divergences between simulations and real-life experiences. The WE concept is therefore a result of cooperation across many different departments in Havyard Group, where the vision «Improving life at sea» is a constant, says Design Manager Arve Leine of Havyard Design & Solutions. – Havyard`s WE design is easily recognizable, but to Havyard this is much more than a design look and signature, says the designer. – The distinctive design is the slim, streamlined bow with adjoining bulb, as well as fins in the afterbody. These fins take care of optimal water influx for thrusters and they considerably increase efficiency without increased ship resistance. Test results and simulations have shown that both resistance and thruster efficiency are influenced in an extremely favourable way, he explains.

Theory and practice
It is essential to learn whether changes in design provide an actual real-life profit, or whether it is only theoretical. Havyard has therefore taken part in a project managed by a research institution, where focus has been on developing precise methods and tools for measuring performances of sailing vessels. MARIN (Maritime Research Netherlands) has contributed to equipping instruments into the vessel, as well as performing wind-, wave- and current measurements in The Sognefjord. All of this has been combined in order to develop the new concept.
Percentage values are often announced without an exact reference to what they are compared to, whereas savings for new concepts are made known. As a result, Havyard has put resources into comparing this new design with an identical vessel from the conventional concept. – This allows us to be very specific in terms of improvements made and what conditions they relate to, says Leine, who informs that fuel savings will be between 20 to 33 %, depending on height of waves.
There`s a three-way split between machinery and propulsion. This means there are three systems completely independent of each other, and you achieve an excellent redundancy and improved security against faults in critical operations. With this system you also achieve the best ERN number for DNV, which gives indications of the ship`s ability to maintain its DP position in certain weather conditions.

By Svalbard 50% of the time
The ship will be serving a long-term charter for half the year, for the district governor of Svalbard. The vessel is designed, planned and constructed according to the district governor`s demands. This means it has ice-reinforced hull with ice class ICE 1B, and to be able to operate in the exposed region of Svalbard, it also has Winterized Basic class. A detachable helideck is mounted amidships and onboard Refuelling System for helicopters is planned for. Because of regulations for carrying out possible emergency tugs, there is a towing winch installed on main deck. Accommodation and outfitting are also cared for according to the district governor`s demands and needs, when it comes to cabins, conference rooms and operating rooms.
The ship will in the remaining half of the year operate in normal PSV (Platform Supply Vessel) mode. This is attended to through a large work deck where all the area can be utilized without an overhang. Contributions from operators have given life to a low Cargo rail for better visibility from rig. And to enhance crew safety during rig loading and unloading, there`s a system mounted in order to secure the loading hoses. Furthermore, the vessel has good cargo capacity and is in addition arranged and constructed for standby oil protection.

Icelandic pioneer
Steingrímur Erlingsson, CEO of Fafnir Offshore, says that they chose Havyard`s design because of low fuel consumption and the ship`s very efficient fins. – Havyard really has proved their professionalism and their experience is important to us, says Erlingsson, who is pleased to have the vessel serving the district governor of Svalbard. Fafnir Offshore is the first shipping company from Iceland that has ordered an offshore vessel and there are great expectations on the saga island what this effort could further lead to.

Key data Havyard 832 WE:
Length:                88.5 m
Breadth:               17.6 m
Speed:                 15 knots
Deck area:           850 square metres
Crew:                   30 persons
Dead weight:        3700 tonnes

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The illustration shows how the vessel will look when it is ready for operation for the district governor of Svalbard. Photo Havyard