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OCEAN INCHCAPE LTD (OIL)

 

 

In 1972 Ocean Fleets, commercially known as Blue Funnel, entered into a partnership with the Inchcape Group to operate a supply vessel company to be known as Ocean Inchcape Ltd or O.I.L . While Ocean Fleets had no previous experience in the field, the Inchcape Group had been the owners of a single supply ship, the San Pedro Gulf out in Australia and later had formed an alliance with the Straits Steamship Company which became the Borneo Straits Offshore (Pty) BSO. This company had built three ships to support Shell’s activities off Borneo.

The Inchcape experience was put to use in the design of the first eight of the company’s ships which were built at a number of yards in Holland, the company being unable to find any in UK yards which would deliver this number of vessels, on time over the following four years. We should remember here that it was not possible to find one yard to build eight small ships – two a year – when Halter Moss Point was averaging 12.3 ships a year over the decade.

In any case, from a number of yards in Holland the four OIL Mark Ones were delivered in 1972. They were the Oil Producer, the Oil Prospector, Oil Supplier and Oil Explorer. They were followed in 1973 by two further vessels, though by now OIL had learned that the low bridge structures of the first four were vulnerable to the sea, and put in an extra deck. These two vessels were called Oil Venturer and Oil Discoverer, and finally another two ships were brought into service in 1974, the Oil Mariner and the Oil Driller. The fleet became progressively more powerful, starting at about 4000 bhp and finishing at over 6000 bhp.

In 1988 the purchase of OSA by OIL was one of the more surprising events of the decade. Everyone looked back to the mid 1970s when the OSA fleet had seemed to be in the ascendant, in the same way as the Maersk fleet was to become at the turn of the century. When the business needed anchor-handlers OSA would turn out a few and when it needed pipe-carriers, no problem, there they were occupying most of the berths alongside in Aberdeen.

During the previous decade the OSA anchor-handlers had lain in the River Tay, grey, glamorous and menacing as they swung round their anchors for weeks at a time waiting for the day rates to rise to a point where some-one could afford them.  To the crews of the smaller ships, and at that time that was everyone else, they were known as “the Grand Fleet”.

OSA, and just to remind everyone - OSA stands for the “Offshore Supply Association”, had a tendency to build parallel ships for their main partners, some of them ending in the letters “turm” and others in the letters “tor”. Hence the group of 9000 bhp anchor-handlers which entered service in the mid 1970s  were the Schepelsturm, the Schnoorturm, the Werdertor, the Herdentor and the extremely large and efficient platform ships were the Huntetor, the Faldentor, the Kaubturm, and the Kreuzturm.  Some of these vessels still formed the backbone of the OSA fleet when OIL made the purchase, and large numbers of small pipe carriers were also included in the deal.

OIL were very proud of the acquisition and were able to continue their operations as a world wide service provider. The deal was done for £28 million and it enhanced OIL’s increasing reputation as a successful fire sale bidder.

In 1997 Tidewater purchased OIL who were now a fleet of considerable size due to their acquisition of OSA in 1988. OIL had become a feature of the world wide supply vessel industry, being particularly strong in the Far East where they had kept a strong presence and even in Mexico where a number of old OIL ships had worked for years. At the time of the take-over they were operating a fleet of 30 supply vessels and anchor handlers plus large numbers of crew boats standby vessels and tugs.  The purchase by Tidewater was a way in which the latter could become a more positive presence in the heavy duty market and was a sign that the largest supply ship owner in the world had realised that they had lost their way.

This is not to say that OIL were the most modern ship-owners. Although they had built ships in the early days, when everyone was building, with the passing of time, and the variable fortunes of the industry, they had traded on their stability and had purchased second hand tonnage from less well endowed owners during the downturns. The combination of the car boot sale approach and the complete OSA fleet, which had also been of variable age and origins made the OIL ships a polyglot collection, which could be expected to challenge the resourcefulness of any ship manager. But there is no doubt that Tidewater felt themselves equal to the task.

The above is derived from the text of "The History of the Supply Ship". Elements of the OIL and OSA fleet which are of course now part of the Tidewater organisation are included here. Because of the limited information now available from Tidewater this page is compiled using as much information as is available from other sources. When time allows additions are being made to this page, as the site is becoming a record of history as well as a  source of current information. It is a sad comment on the state of the world - I think - that while we can find photographs of almost all ships which ever existed, there is very little written information.

ANCHOR-HANDLERS
PLATFORM SHIPS

Updated (a bit) 9th May 2013.



ANCHOR-HANDLERS

  TYPE: OSA AS55 NAME: Alstertor   PHOTO: Oddgeir Refvik
 

GENERAL

PROPULSION

EQUIPMENT
Length OA 57.3 m Engines 2 x Yanmar 8Z Workdrum pull 100 tonnes
Breadth 12.3 m BHP 4000 tonnes Capacity 1 600m x 50mm
DWT 1018 tonnes For'd Thruster 320 bhp Capacity 2  
Deck area 263.5 m2 Az Thruster   Towdrum pull  
Fuel 538 m3 Aft Thrusters   Capacity 1 600m x 50mm
Pot water 140 m3 Bollard pull 55 tonnes Capacity 2  
Mud 218 m3     Sharks Jaw  
Base oil   DP   Cranes  
Brine   Joystick   Tank Cleaning None
Dry bulk 112 m3 Year built 1983 Shipyard Hitzler Werft
Previous names  
Comments  

 

  TYPE: OSA AS55 NAME: Holstentor   PHOTO: Oddgeir Refvik

GENERAL

PROPULSION

EQUIPMENT
Length OA 57.3 m Engines 2 x Yanmar 8Z Workdrum pull 100 tonnes
Breadth 12.3 m BHP 4000 tonnes Capacity 1 600m x 50mm
DWT 1018 tonnes For'd Thruster 320 bhp Capacity 2  
Deck area 263.5 m2 Az Thruster   Towdrum pull  
Fuel 538 m3 Aft Thrusters   Capacity 1 600m x 50mm-
Pot water 140 m3 Bollard pull 55 tonnes Capacity 2  
Mud 218 m3     Sharks Jaw  
Base oil   DP   Cranes  
Brine   Joystick   Tank Cleaning None
Dry bulk 112 m3 Year built 1983 Shipyard Hitzler Werft
Previous names  
Comments  

 

  TYPE: OSA AS55 NAME: Oxenturm   PHOTO: Jan Plug

GENERAL

PROPULSION

EQUIPMENT
Length OA 57.3 m Engines 2 x Yanmar 8Z Workdrum pull 100 tonnes
Breadth 12.3 m BHP 4000 tonnes Capacity 1 600m x 50mm
DWT 1018 tonnes For'd Thruster 320 bhp Capacity 2  
Deck area 263.5 m2 Az Thruster   Towdrum pull  
Fuel 538 m3 Aft Thrusters   Capacity 1 600m x 50mm-
Pot water 140 m3 Bollard pull 55 tonnes Capacity 2  
Mud 218 m3     Sharks Jaw  
Base oil   DP   Cranes  
Brine   Joystick   Tank Cleaning None
Dry bulk 112 m3 Year built 1983 Shipyard Hitzler Werft
Previous names  
Comments  

 
  TYPE: OSA AS55 NAME: Pagenturm   PHOTO: Jan Plug, Hans Bosch, Oddgeir Refvik

GENERAL

PROPULSION

EQUIPMENT
Length OA 57.3 m Engines 2 x Yanmar 8Z Workdrum pull 100 tonnes
Breadth 12.3 m BHP 4000 tonnes Capacity 1 600m x 50mm
DWT 1018 tonnes For'd Thruster 320 bhp Capacity 2  
Deck area 263.5 m2 Az Thruster   Towdrum pull  
Fuel 538 m3 Aft Thrusters   Capacity 1 600m x 50mm-
Pot water 140 m3 Bollard pull 55 tonnes Capacity 2  
Mud 218 m3     Sharks Jaw  
Base oil   DP   Cranes  
Brine   Joystick   Tank Cleaning None
Dry bulk 112 m3 Year built 1983 Shipyard Hitzler Werft
Previous names  
Comments  

 

  TYPE: OIL Mk III NAME: OIL MARINER   PHOTO: Vic Gibson
   

GENERAL

PROPULSION

EQUIPMENT
Length OA 59.5 m Engines 2 x English Electric Workdrum pull 178 t
Breadth 13.0 m BHP 6700 Capacity 1 915m x 56mm
DWT 1062 t kW 4926 Capacity 2 -
Deck area 330 m2 For'd Thruster - Towdrum pull 178 t
Fuel 422 m3 Az Thruster 1 x 500 bhp Capacity 1 915m x 56mm
Pot water 186 m3 Aft Thrusters - Capacity 2 -
Mud - Bollard pull 81 t Sharks Jaw -
Brine - DP - Cranes -
Dry bulk 159 m3 Joystick - Tank cleaning -
Year built 1973 Shipyard Ysselwerf Berths 23
Previous names -
Comments -

 

  TYPE: OIL Mk III NAME: OIL DRILLER   PHOTO:
     

GENERAL

PROPULSION

EQUIPMENT
Length OA 59.5 m Engines 2 x English Electric Workdrum pull 178 t
Breadth 13.0 m BHP 6700 Capacity 1 915m x 56mm
DWT 1062 t kW 4926 Capacity 2 -
Deck area 330 m2 For'd Thruster - Towdrum pull 178 t
Fuel 422 m3 Az Thruster 1 x 500 bhp Capacity 1 915m x 56mm
Pot water 186 m3 Aft Thrusters - Capacity 2 -
Mud - Bollard pull 81 t Sharks Jaw -
Brine - DP - Cranes -
Dry bulk 159 m3 Joystick - Tank cleaning -
Year built 1973 Shipyard Ysselwerf Berths 23
Previous names -
Comments -

 

TYPE: ME 303

NAME: Oil Provider

PHOTO: Kenny Polson, Vic Gibson
 

GENERAL

PROPULSION

EQUIPMENT
Length OA 67.87m Engines 4 x Wichmann Workdrum pull  
Breadth 15.6m BHP 12320 Capacity 1 1500m x 64mm
DWT 2042t For'd Thruster 2 x 815 bhp Capacity 2 1500m x 64mm
Deck area 476.16 Az Thruster   Towdrum pull  
Fuel 977m3 Aft Thrusters 1 x 815 bhp Capacity 1 1500m x 64mm
Pot water 609m3 Bollard pull 135 tonnes Capacity 2  
Mud 267m3     Sharks Jaw  
Brine   DP   Cranes  
Dry bulk 222m3 Joystick Hjelseth Tank cleaning  
Year built 1984     Shipyard Dae Dong, Korea
Previous names Edda Sun, Star Orion, Troms Tjell
Comments This ship was originally built as the Edda Sun, but did not leave the yard until it was purchased by Star Offshore as the Star Orion. It was then bought by TFDS before being purchased by OIL.

 

  TYPE: UT 704 NAME: Oil Valiant   PHOTO: -

GENERAL

PROPULSION

EQUIPMENT
Length OA 64.67 m Engines 2 x MAK Workdrum pull 250 t
Breadth 13.8 m BHP 8020 Capacity 1 1000m x 56mm
DWT 1856 t kW 5900 Capacity 2 -
Deck area 429 m2 For'd Thruster 1 x 670 bhp Towdrum pull 250 t
Fuel 592 m3 Az Thruster - Capacity 1 1400m x 56mm
Pot water 255 m3 Aft Thrusters - Capacity 2 -
Mud 334 m3 Bollard pull 105 t Sharks Jaw Karforks
Brine - DP - Cranes -
Dry bulk 170 m3 Joystick - Tank cleaning -
Year built 1982     Shipyard Husumer
Previous names Balder Heide, British Emerald, Lancelot Bay
Comments -

 

TYPE: UT 704 MK III

NAME: Oil Vibrant

PHOTO: George Craigen
   

GENERAL

PROPULSION

EQUIPMENT
Length OA  64.55 m Engines  2 x Wartsila Workdrum pull  300 tonnes
Breadth 13.8 m BHP  9000 Capacity 1  1000m x 56mm
DWT  1869 tonnes For'd Thruster  1 x 800 bhp- Capacity 2  1000m x 56mm
Deck area  418 m2 Az Thruster   Towdrum pull  
Fuel  880 m3 Aft Thrusters   Capacity 1  1200m x 64mm
Pot water  450 m3 Bollard pull  110 tonnes Capacity 2  
Mud  215 m3     Sharks Jaw  Ulstein
Brine   DP   Cranes  
Dry bulk  226 m3 Joystick  Seimans Tank cleaning  No
Year built  1983   Shipyard  Ulstein Verft
Previous names Star Polaris (Photo)
Comments  

PLATFORM SHIPS

TYPE: OSA PS45 NAME: Gallusturm PHOTO:
GENERAL PROPULSION CARGO CAPACITY
Length OA 56.2 m Engines 2 x MWM Fuel 525 m3
Breadth 14.3 m BHP/kW 3500/2570 Pot water 540 m3
DWT 1497 t For'd Thrusters 1 x610 Mud 174 m3
Deck area 310 m2 Az Thruster - Base oil -
    Aft Thrusters - Brine -
Year built 1978 Joystick AEG Dry bulk 212 m3
Shipyard Hitzler Verft DP - Tank Cleaning -
Previous names -
Comments -

 

  TYPE: OSA OP7000 NAME: Kaubturm   PHOTO: Vic Gibson
GENERAL PROPULSION CARGO CAPACITY
Length OA 78.85 m Engines 2 x KHD Fuel 1300 m3
Breadth 15.22 m BHP 6000 Pot water 633 m3
DWT 2652 t For'd Thrusters 2 x 600 bhp Mud 524 m3
Deck area 582.4 m2 Az Thruster   Base oil  
    Aft Thrusters 2 x 300 bhp Brine  
Year built 1978 Joystick AEG Dry bulk 348 m3
Shipyard Surken GmBH DP   Tank Cleaning  
Previous names  
Comments Have a look at the amazing carrying capacity of this ship and then the year built!!

 

TYPE:SK 60/17 NAME: Oil Onyx PHOTO: Vic Gibson, Peter Taylor
GENERAL PROPULSION CARGO CAPACITY
Length OA 60.0 m Engines  2 x B&W Alpha Fuel  527 m3
Breadth 14.4 m BHP/kW 4240/3120 Pot water   626 m3
DWT 2120 t For'd Thrusters 2 x 500 bhp Mud   405 m3
Deck area 446.25 m2 Az Thruster   Base oil  
    Aft Thrusters 1 x 600 bhp Brine  
Year built 1982 Joystick Poscon Dry bulk   192 m3
Shipyard  Paul Lindenau DP   Tank Cleaning  
Previous names Stout Truck
Comments  

 

TYPE: UT 706 L NAME: Oil Tracer PHOTO: Tony Poll, Torleif Klokset
GENERAL PROPULSION CARGO CAPACITY
Length OA 84.6 m Engines 2 x MAK Fuel 1358 m3
Breadth 17.5 m BHP/kW 5400/3970 Pot water 1256 m3
DWT 3325 t For'd Thrusters 2 x 800 bhp Mud 906 m3
Deck area 663 m2 Az Thruster - Base oil -
    Aft Thrusters 2 x 800 bhp Brine -
Year built 1986 Joystick Ulstein Dry bulk 382 m3
Shipyard Sterkoder DP - Tank Cleaning -
Previous names British Viking, Balder Grip, Lowland Prowler
Comments -

 

TYPE: Edda Type NAME: Oil Trader PHOTO:
   
GENERAL PROPULSION CARGO CAPACITY
Length OA 71.2 m Engines 2 x MAK Fuel 922 m3
Breadth 17.5 m BHP/kW 4800/3530 Pot water 766 m3
DWT 2717 t For'd Thrusters 2 x 600 bhp Mud 406 m3
Deck area 609 m2 Az Thruster - Base oil -
    Aft Thrusters 2 x 600 bhp Brine -
Year built 1981 Joystick Simrad Dry bulk 350 m3
Shipyard Hjorungavaag DP ADP200 Tank Cleaning -
Previous names Edda Fram, Edda Freya
Comments The only picture we have is one taken after the ship had collided with a platform off Nigeria which was circulated on the internet.

 

TYPE: ME 202 NAME: Oil Traveller PHOTO: Dubravko Eliz, George Craigen
GENERAL PROPULSION CARGO CAPACITY
Length OA 67.2 m Engines 4 x Wartsila 8R22 Fuel 1020 m3
Breadth 16.8 m BHP/kW 6960/5120 Pot water 1155 m3
DWT 2959 t For'd Thrusters 2 x 900 bhp Mud 124 m3
Deck area 572 m2 Az Thruster - Base oil -
    Aft Aziprops 2 x 2000 bhp Brine -
Year built 1983 Joystick Poscon Dry bulk 398 m3
Shipyard Liaaen Skipsverft DP - Tank Cleaning -
Previous names Atlantic Rolgo, Atlantic Denholm, Loch Carron
Comments -

 



 

SHIPPING COMPANY INFORMATION UPDATED IN 2014
Abeille Bourbon
Acergy
Acomarit
Active Offshore
Aker Solutions
Allseas
ALP Maritime
Arctia Shipping
Arendal Offshore
Aries Offshore
Arktikmor
Atlantic Offshore
Axis Offshore
Bergen Offshore
Bibby Offshore
Blue Star Line
Boa Offshore
Boston Putford
Bourbon Norway
Bourbon Offshore
BP
Branding Offshore
British Antarctic Survey (New)
Brovig Offshore
BUE Marine
BUE Viking
Bukser og Bergung
Deep Sea Supply
Deepocean
DOF
DOF Subsea
Eide Offshore
Eidesvik
ER Schiffahrt
Esvagt
Fairmount
Fairplay Towage
Farstad
Femco Management
FS Shipping
Fugro
Gardline
Geoships
Golden Energy
GulfOffshore Norg
Gulf Offshore UK
Hanzevast Capital
Harms Bergung
Harrisons
Hartmann Offshore
Havila Shipping
Heerema
Irish Mainport
Island Offshore
JPKnight
K Line Offshore
Maersk Supply
Marine Carrier AB
Marine Subsea
Myklebusthaug
Chornomornaftogaz
NAO
N-Sea
Nomis
Nordic American
Nordane Shipping
North Sea Shipping
North Star
O.H.Meling
OIL
Olympic Shipping
OOC
OSA
Ostenjo Rederi
PetroBaltic
Portosalvo
Rem Offshore
Remoy Managment
Rovde Shipping
SBS
SeaMar Shipping
Sealion
Seaworx
Siem Offshore
Simon Mokster
Smit Lloyd
Smitwijs
SMS
Solstad
Subsea7
Stirling
Surf
Technip
Trico Offshore
Tschudi Offshore
Troms Offshore
URAG
URS
Varada Marine
Vestland Marine
Viking Supply
Volstad Shipping
Vroon
Vroon Standby
World Wide Supply
Zafiro Marine
 

 



 

 

 

 

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