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Wärtsilä has revealed that it has been awarded the contract to supply the design and equipment for a new fuel efficient Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) for offshore operations.

The order has been placed by Hellesøy Verft AS, the Norwegian shipyard that will build the vessel, which is to be owned and operated by Norwegian ship owner, Vestland Offshore. The vessel is scheduled to be delivered towards the end of 2012.

"In response to the customer's demand for a modern, high quality, and fuel efficient PSV, Wärtsilä Ship Design has developed a highly energy and environmentally efficient vessel solution," Wärtsilä said in a statement.

Based on the VS 485 design, the new vessel has an optimised hull design for greater efficiency, with corresponding reduced emission to air. The vessel will be fitted with Wärtsilä medium speed engines and Wärtsilä NOx Reducer.

In addition to the design package, Wärtsilä's scope of supply includes four Wärtsilä 9L20 diesel generator sets, the electric propulsion system, the power management system, and an integrated automation system.

"Vestland Offshore is building a fleet of vessels that emphasise energy efficiency, safety, reliability, and environmental sustainability. These are all major focus areas for today's oil industry, and Wärtsilä's designs are at the forefront of achieving these aims," said Tor Østervold, Chairman of the Board of Vestland Offshore.

The VS 485 Mk III is said to fulfill the highest possible Environmental Rating Number (ERN) 99.99.99.99, which represents the vessel's capability for maintaining its position and normal operations under certain weather conditions. The new Wärtsilä PSV design includes a unique power and propulsion system based on the company's patented Low Loss Concept, providing both additional safety and extra reliability for continuous operation, in various failure modes.

"Over the years, Wärtsilä has gained considerable experience in the development of energy efficient vessels. In particular, the optimisation of hull lines has been a major focus area of this development work. By combining this know-how with our overall expertise and experience, new design optimisation tools, and state-of-the-art power and propulsion solutions, we have been able to produce a highly efficient portfolio of Offshore Service Vessel designs," said Johannes Eldøy, Director, Project Development for Wärtsilä Ship Design.

Wärtsilä has a long relationship with Hellesøy Verft yard and this will be the seventh VS 485 vessel to be built. However, this is the first ship of the new Mk III design that the Norwegian shipyard has ordered. According to Wärtsilä, the new ship will be one of the most cost and fuel-efficient supply vessels ever to be launched. It is designed to be suitable for world-wide operations.

The vessel is 85.6 metres long, has a breadth of 20 metres, a cargo deck area of approximately 1000 square metres, and has a dead weight at 7 m of 5,000 tonnes.