The owner, Fairmount Heavy Transport NV, will set sail with the vessels in the second half of 2006. The vessels will be primarily employed in the transport of offshore equipment such as jack-up and semi-submersible drilling rigs, and floating production units for the offshore oil and gas industry. With this type of vessel, the cargo is loaded and unloaded when the vessel is ballasted down to a semi-submerged condition. The cargo is then floated on and off the vessel's large open cargo deck.
The 'Fairmount Fjord' has dimensions of 164.3 m length between perpendiculars, 45.5 m breadth and 9 m depth. The 'Fairmount Fjell' has dimensions of 146.3 m length bp, 36.0 m breadth and 9 m depth.
The propulsion plants were contracted in August 2005 from a consortium formed by Imtech Marine & Offshore and Wärtsilä, a specialist in ship machinery, propulsion and manoeuvring solutions for offshore applications. The consortium is responsible for the initial design of the power plant: the supply of the complete generating sets, thrusters, all ancillary systems, electrical switchboards, and the integrated bridge system, including controls for the whole power plant. As part of the comprehensive solution, Imtech will provide the navigation, automation and electrical propulsion systems.