Van Oord’s subsea rock installation vessel pair to sport TMC’s compressed air system

June 8, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

TMC, a Norway-based designer of compressed air systems for marine and offshore use, has received an order to provide a marine compressed air system for two subsea rock installation vessels being built for the Netherlands-headquartered marine contractor Van Oord.

Illustration of subsea rock installation vessels; Source: Van Oord

Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore has hired TMC Compressors to deliver a complete marine compressed air system, including instrument air compressors and air dryers, to each of Van Oord’s two subsea rock installation vessels, which are currently under construction. The value of the contract has not been disclosed.

Hans-Petter Tanum, TMC’s Director of Sales and Business Development, commented: “It is always fun and interesting to equip innovative and unique vessels such as these two. They can play an important role in facilitating the energy transition through enabling, amongst other things, offshore wind projects.”

With a substantial loading capacity of 35,000 tonnes, these vessels will be capable of handling large rock sizes and feature a DP-2 dynamic positioning system, enabling ships to maintain precise positioning despite challenging conditions, such as waves, wind, and currents.

These features are expected to make the vessels ideal for long-distance projects, as they will minimize round trips, reducing emissions and costs per installed rock volume. Van Oord operates a fleet of 61 vessels, including three subsea rock installation vessels.

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The sustainable design of the new ships entails multi-fuel engines, such as biofuel and methanol, a DC grid with large battery storage capacity, and an energy-efficient hull design and rock-handling system. Subsea rock installation is considered vital for protecting and stabilizing offshore energy assets.

“Our marine compressed air systems are highly reliable and designed so that the vessel crew can maintain the compressors themselves, also while at sea. We believe this is the ideal solution for a vessel that is designed to manage long-distance projects,” highlighted Hans-Petter Tanum.

This deal comes months after TMC secured a contract with COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry to deliver a complete marine compressed air system to SBM Offshore’s FSO Chalchi, which will be deployed at Woodside’s Trion deepwater oil field offshore Mexico.