Boskalis has secured a new record-breaking contract for its flagship heavy transport vessel, Boka Vanguard. The giant semi-submersible ship will transport a 91,000-tonne FPSO from China to Brasil.

With the new contract, the Boka Vanguard is breaking its 90,000-tonne record which was set last year, also transporting an FPSO. The Boka Vanguard is the only vessel in the world capable of such transports because of its unique, bowless design.

The contract is one of several heavy transport contracts with a total value of EUR 120 million, the Dutch offshore contractor has recently secured. The company was also awarded an FPSO transportation form China to the North Sea, which will take place in 2021, and the transportation of two Floating Production Systems from Singapore to the Gulf of Mexico in the period 2021-2022. These cargoes will be transported on the White Marlin and Blue Marlin.

Additionally, Boskalis secured a contract for the transportation of various large LNG modules from a fabrication yard in China to Russia. The contract ties up the two high-end open-stern heavy transport vessels Blue Marlin and Black Marlin commencing Q2 2021.

These contracts were signed in the third and fourth quarter of 2019 with each quarter accounting for half of the total contract value of EUR 120 million.

In its recent release of the third-quarter results, Boskalis noted that the heavy transport market is slowly improving. “The high-end transport market is starting to show cautious signs of recovery following a number of quiet years during which transport was wholly dependent on the spot market”, the company remarked.