Senegalese player taps Australian-Singaporean shipbuilding duo to build vessel for its emerging offshore energy sector

Australia’s marine engineering company Incat Crowther and Singapore’s shipbuilder Penguin International have been commissioned to design and construct a new fast supply vessel (FSV) for Senegalese operator O3S – Oil Senegal Support Services. This vessel will be deployed to service Senegal’s offshore energy sector.

According to the Australian firm, the 36-meter FSV will have the capacity to transport 28 personnel and carry 20 tons of cargo at speeds of up to 33.5 knots. With the vessel design representing a marriage of features from the offshore wind and oil and gas sectors, the construction is expected to start later this year, with estimated delivery in 2025.

Sam Mackay, Incat Crowther’s Technical Manager, commented: “We’re excited to be working with our partners at Penguin International on this project. Incat Crowther and Penguin International have a track record of delivering for offshore energy operators seeking bespoke, operationally efficient state-of-the-art vessels. This project will add to the growing number of work boats and CTVs servicing the global offshore energy sector that have been designed and delivered by Incat Crowther and Penguin International.”

With an underlying catamaran hull form derived from Penguin’s WindFlex-32 Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV), which was co-developed with Incat Crowther, the new vessel will be IMO Tier III-compliant thanks to its emissions reduction technology.

The 62-meter-squared foredeck will feature a FROG crew transfer crane for personnel to be transported more safely from the vessel to offshore infrastructure, paired with an ultra-high performance bow fender to optimize the safety of transfers in open ocean conditions.

While Senegal’s offshore sector is still in its infancy, it already has two oil and gas projects underway. The first is Woodside Energy’s development of the Sangomar field, the country’s first offshore oil development. The project recently witnessed the arrival of floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) Léopold Sédar Senghor.

The second one is BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project off the coasts of Senegal and neighboring Mauritania, said to be the biggest one in the oil major’s portfolio. The project entails gas production from an ultra-deepwater subsea system, which will then be transferred to a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility. The FPSO Tortue destined for this project is slated to start its journey toward the site in 2Q 2024.