Distribution of company announcements to the professional platforms, finance portals and syndication of important corporate news to a wide variety of news aggregators and financial news systems.
Aker Yards ASA (OSL:AKY) The offshore service vessel ISLAND WELLSERVER, owned by the Norwegian company Island Offshore and built by Aker Yards Langsten, was today declared Ship of the Year 2008 at the SMM 2008 Exhibition in Hamburg by the Norwegian State Secretary Rikke Lind. ISLAND WELLSERVER is a subsea riserless oil and gas well intervention vessel, and represents new technology in the offshore market. The ship also introduces new standards for working environment, safety and comfort.
The ship is a result of a vision that the subsea well intervention market should be served by a vessel, instead of a drilling rig, which so far has been the case. "The vessel is a masterpiece in Norwegian shipbuilding and reflects the high market demands in the booming sector of shipbased light well intervention services", says State Secretary Lind.
Described as a Subsea Riserless Well Intervention Vessel with a running wire line through a subsea lubricator system, she is equipped with the most advanced systems available. She will perform production logging, plugging and gauging operations, re-perforations and downhole mechanical works.
The vessel is built in compliance with the Norwegian Maritime Directorate's and Norsok's regulations for mobile offshore units, i.e. the same regulations as used for production vessels, rigs and platforms operating at the Norwegian continental shelf. Built to the highest DNV Comfort Class notation, she has a noise and vibration level similar to a modern cruise ship. This makes her the world's only offshore vessel with DNV's highest Comfort Class, V(1) C(1). The HSE philosophy is an important aspect for the ship owning company who aims to give the crew the best living and working environment possible.
The prestigious Ship of the Year-award is instituted by the major Norwegian shipping magazine Skipsrevyen. Price candidates are nominated by the readers of the magazine, but the final election is the responsibility of a jury consisting of the Publisher and Editor of Skipsrevyen, Mr. Asle B. Strønen, the former MD of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association Mr. Rolf Sæther and the MD of the sales and marketing organization Norwegian Shipyards, Mr. Birger Skår.
Aker Yards has been awarded the Ship of the Year three times before. In 2000 the world's first LNG powered car- and passenger ferry GLUTRA was elected Ship of the Year, in 2002 the sophisticated icebreaking Coast Guard vessel KV SVALBARD, and in 2004 the innovative Platform Supply vessel VIKING AVANT.
Please see photo of ISLAND WELLSERVER attached.
Aker Yards ASA is an international shipbuilding group focusing on sophisticated vessels. The group has a strong position both in terms of innovation, product range, technology, experience and capacity. The product range includes cruise vessels & ferries, merchant vessels and offshore & specialized vessels. Aker Yards comprises 15 yards in Brazil, Finland, France, Norway, Romania and Vietnam, in addition to ownership in yards in Germany and Ukraine. Aker Yards has approximately 16 000 employees. www.akeryards.com
