“Danish Ship of the Year 2016” with hull from Szczecin

A multi-purpose vessel OV Bøkfjord has been awarded Danish Ship of the Year 2016 title by “Maritime Denmark” during Danish Maritime Days in Copenhagen. The vessel’s concept design is developed in tight cooperation between Kystverket, Hvide Sande Shipyard and A/S Jørgen Petersen (ASJP) – now part of OSK, who has been responsible for development of the Basic Design. The partially outfitted hull of the ship was built in Poland, by Kedat Sp. z o.o. shipyard.

The hull of OV Bøkfjord was launched on November 16, 2015, by lifting, with a huge gantry crane, from an assembly place near the Wulkan slipway of the former Szczecin Shipyard, and lowering it onto the water adjacent to a building berth. The partially outfitted hull was built on the premises of former Szczecin Shipyard by Kedat Sp. z o.o.

OV Bøkfjord is “two vessels in one hull” with its ability to function as both a buoys and beacons maintenance vessel on a daily basis as well as an oil recovery vessel for Kystverket in Norway. It is designed for fast response time and fitted with specialised equipment, i.e. surface oil skimmers and dedicated holding tanks etc. The vessel has an advanced diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system integrated into the vessel’s compact design.

The owners – Kystverket – wanted a series of complex functionalities incorporated in one compact vessel design, so the designers had to be quite creative in combining many functionalities in very limited space.

A complex ramp system was developed allowing the vessel to approach smaller islands and also to use the ramps for dynamic positioning during repairs at sea. These, as well as oil sweepers, holding tanks, offshore crane etc., have been integrated in the design whilst also making space for a battery pack, as Kystverket wanted the vessel to have diesel-electric hybrid propulsion.

The vessel, after leaving Hvide Sande, is operating along the northern most shores of Norway and hence it is prepared for harsh environment coastal operations as well.

OV Bøkfjord was not the first Polish-built vessel to receive the “Danish Ship of the Year” title. The year before, the award was won by Princess Isabella (ex Samsø), Denmark’s first domestic LNG-powered passenger ferry entirely built, equipped and delivered on a turn-key basis by Remontowa Shipbuilding. Another year before the winner was Stavangerfjord of Fjord Line with the hull supplied by Gdansk Shipyard.

OV Bøkfjord was delivered in August 2016, by Hvide Sande (newbuilding no. 133), as the largest ship from this yard so far.

PBS