If a couple of recently delivered offshore vessels had to be identified that highlight the importance of thrusters on offshore vessels, those vessels would surely have to be Viking Neptun, which was delivered to Eidesvik Offshore in Norway earlier this year, and the semi-submersible offshore accommodation vessels Posh Xanadu and Posh Arcadia, the first of which was delivered in January by PaxOcean Engineering of Zhoushan. Each of the accommodation vessels will have no fewer than nine Brunvoll thrusters, including two AW100 azimuth propulsion thrusters located aft, two FU100 tunnel thrusters (one forward and one aft) and five azimuth retractable AR100 thrusters for manoeuvring - three are installed across the forward part of the vessel and the remaining two one each side aft. Between them, the thrusters have a total power output of 20,876kW. Now on long-term charter to Technip, Viking Neptun is the largest in Eidesvik's fleet and the largest built by Kleven Verft in Norway. Designed by Salt Ship Design, the vessel is 145m long with a breadth of 31m and accommodation for 150 people. It has two main propellers from Wartsila (driven by a twin-in and single-out gearbox) and seven Brunvoll thrusters. The vessel has eight engines from Wartsila and a maximum speed of 17.2 knots.
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