Belgium’s DEME (Dredging, Environmental & Marine Engineering) Group has started the construction of the multipurpose vessel Living Stone. The vessel is being built by the Spanish shipyard LaNaval near Bilbao where recently the keel laying ceremony took place. It will have a total loading capacity of 12.500 tons.
The Living Stone, being built to service the offshore renewable power generation & transportation market, will be delivered in 2017, making it another DEME vessel equipped with dual-fuel engines, in addition to the self-propelled jack-up vessel Apollo and 3 other LNG-powered hopper dredgers that have been ordered.
The multipurpose vessel Living Stone will be equipped with two large 5.000 tons cable/umbilical carrousels arranged below deck allowing for a free deck space of ca. 3500 m². It will be able to accommodate up to 100 people and will serve transport and installation projects as well as offshore power cable and umbilical installation, interconnectors for the future European super grid amongst others.
The ‘Living Stone’ has been designed as an environmentally friendly vessel with dual-fuel main engines with LNG being its prime fuel. In order to operate the vessel with the lowest possible fuel consumption while also keeping CO2 and NOx & SOx exhaust emissions to the strictest minimum, LNG as fuel and biodegradable grease and oil will be used combined with heat recovery.
The Living Stone will also have a Green Passport and the Clean Design Notation awarded to owners and operators who choose to design and operate their vessels in an environmentally sustainable manner. The aim is to reduce the vessel’s emissions and waste so that the overall environmental burden from shipping is reduced.
(Source: DEME)
