Boskalis to dry dock Carnival cruise ship on the BOKA Vanguard

Papendrecht, 2 July 2019

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has been awarded a contract by Carnival Cruise Line to lift cruise ship Carnival Vista out of the water onto the BOKA Vanguard and transport it to a shipyard facility for a dry docking operation. This is a world first operation that will take place in the coming weeks in Freeport, Bahamas.
  
Carnival Vista is the second largest cruise ship in the Carnival fleet with a capacity of nearly 4,000 passengers and a length in excess of 300 meters. Due to technical issues with Carnival Vista’s azipods, the ship’s main propulsion system, the vessel must be repaired in a dry dock which is currently not available in the region. Boskalis offers a unique solution to facilitate this dry dock repair by deploying the world’s largest semi-submersible heavy lift vessel BOKA Vanguard. Carnival Vista will be loaded onto the BOKA Vanguard off the coast of Freeport, Bahamas. This loading and lifting operation is planned to take place between 12 and 14 July. The BOKA Vanguard will then safely transport Carnival Vista to a nearby shipyard facility where the repairs will take place whilst the cruise ship is resting on the BOKA Vanguard. Upon completion of the repairs, Carnival Vista will be offloaded in time for its next cruise voyage later this month.

Click here to view an animation of the entire dry docking operation.
For pictures of the operation, please click here.

About the BOKA Vanguard

The BOKA Vanguard is the world’s largest semi-submersible ship uniquely positioned to lift and transport extremely heavy cargoes in a dry and safe manner. The vessel has an impressive track record transporting large offshore oil and gas structures, but can also carry other vessels and act as a floating offshore dry dock facility. The BOKA Vanguard is unique in that is has an open and flat stern and bow-less deck measuring 275 meters by 70 meters allowing the vessel to lift and transport cargo’s longer and wider than these deck dimensions. By filling its ballast tanks, the ship deck is submerged in a controlled manner, allowing it to lift deep draught cargoes. This creates an alternative for dry docking allowing inspections and repairs to be safely and efficiently conducted at a location where traditional dry dock alternatives are not available.

For updates during the operation, please consult www.boskalis.com/vista or follow Boskalis on social media (linkedin.com/company/Boskalis; twitter.com/beleefboskalis; www.facebook.com/Boskalis; https://www.instagram.com/boskalis_official/).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Investor relations:
Martijn L.D. Schuttevâer
ir@boskalis.com

Press:
Arno Schikker
press@boskalis.com

T +31 786969310
‎
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world. With core activities such as coastal defense, riverbank protection and land reclamation Boskalis is able to provide adaptive and mitigating solutions to combat the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels, as well as delivering solutions for the increasing need for space in coastal and delta regions across the world. The company facilitates the development of offshore energy infrastructure, including renewable wind energy. Boskalis is furthermore active in the construction and maintenance of ports, waterways, access channels and civil infrastructure, thus helping to facilitate trade flows and regional socio-economic development. In addition, Boskalis is a global marine salvage expert and has a number of strategic partnerships in harbor towage and terminal services (Kotug Smit Towage, Keppel Smit Towage, Saam Smit Towage and Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of more than 900 vessels and floating equipment and 11,300 employees, including associates, Boskalis is creating new horizons around the world.

This press release can also be found on our website www.boskalis.com.