December 30 - Following the delivery of the Triumph earlier this month, the final vessel out of a series of six, the Trustee has joined the fleet of Dockwise Transport, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dockwise Ltd.

After successfully completing the submergence test and sea trials, the Trustee has been delivered on schedule.

 

The heavy transport vessel is designed to transport complex, high-value cargo such as jack-up drilling units and has a carrying capacity in excess of 35,000 tonnes.

 

The Trustee will load its first cargo in China after the vessel has been prepared. This vessel was converted at the COSCO shipyard at Zhoushan, China. During the conversion, the entire midship section has been replaced and machinery and equipment were fully revised and renewed.

 

The conversion of Trustee forms part of Dockwise's USD 220 million Capital Expenditure programme for 2008 which has been financed from operating cash flows with the remaining payments relating to the conversion of Trustee and Triumph to be settled in January 2009. 2009 Capex will return to maintenance levels around USD 50 million per annum.

To ensure the most effective way of operating the vessel, Dockwise has appointed Anglo-Eastern Ship Management to provide technical and crew management. As such, the new vessels will operate under the same management systems as the other Dockwise vessels.