Rolls-Royce secures £20 million order from major Norwegian ship owner

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has won a £20 million order to design and supply power and propulsion systems for two UT 776 CD supply vessels for Island Offshore.

Island Offshore were the first to introduce the versatile UT 776 CD ship, which is designed to transport essential supplies to and from offshore oil and gas platforms. These vessels are the ninth and tenth ordered by the operator to date.

In addition to the ship design, the order includes a fully integrated and highly efficient diesel-electric power and propulsion system featuring four Rolls-Royce Bergen engines to power two Azipull thrusters. The ships will also feature a dynamic positioning system, which uses satellite technology to maintain the ship’s position, a comprehensive range of deck machinery and a bulk handling system for the safe loading of cargo.

Jorn Heltne, Rolls-Royce, Director – Offshore Ship Design, said: “We are delighted that Island Offshore has again turned to Rolls-Royce to provide an integrated design, power and propulsion solution for their platform supply vessels, particularly as the decision is based on the successful operation of vessels in their existing fleet.”

The two UT 776 CD vessels will be built by STX OSV at its Brevik shipyard in Norway, with delivery scheduled for 2013.

1. Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, and has established a strong position in global markets - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy.
2. As a result of this strategy, Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 2,500 marine customers, including 70 navies, and energy customers in nearly 120 countries, with an installed base of 54,000 gas turbines.
3. Annual underlying revenues were over £10.8 billion in 2010, of which more than half came from the provision of services. The firm and announced order book stood at £61.4 billion at 30 June 2011, providing visibility of future levels of activity.
4. Rolls-Royce employs over 39,000 skilled people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in over 50 countries. Over 11,000 of these employees are engineers.
5. In 2010, Rolls-Royce invested £923 million on research and development, two thirds of which had the objective of further improving the environmental performance of its products, in particular reducing emissions.
6. Rolls-Royce supports a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which connect the company’s engineers with the forefront of scientific research.
7. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills.
8. The Marine business of Rolls-Royce employs 9,000 people in 34 countries with the main manufacturing centres being in the UK, the Nordic countries, the United States and increasingly Asia.
9. Rolls-Royce is a world leader in marine solutions, providing products, service and expertise to more than 30,000 vessels in the offshore, merchant, naval surface and submarine markets. It designs ships and its product range includes propulsion systems featuring diesel engines and gas turbines, propellers, thrusters and water jets. Rolls-Royce also provides manoeuvring and stabilising systems and deck machinery.