The increase in deepwater oil exploration activities has resulted in greater demand for offshore support vessels. There have been a considerable number of orders and deliveries of vessels with 100tonne bp to 150tonne bp capacity since 2003. There has also been an increase in the average power capacity of anchor handling supply vessels (AHTS) even though their overall size may have been reduced. In 2005, there were a large number of vessels delivered with a 70tonne pulling capacity but with lengths of under 30m. Azimuthing propulsion, even for the very powerful vessels seems to be growing in popularity, and owners are also looking for greater safety and reliability, and improved operational emissions and discharges.
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