''Iolair'' (

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

for eagle) is a specialised

semi-submersible Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as: *Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport *Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface *Se ...

offshore platform designed for BP to support and service

oil platform An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...

s in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and served as an emergency support vessel (ESV) in the

Forties Oil Field The Forties Oil Field is the second largest oil field in the North Sea, after the Clair oil field, which is located 110 miles east of Aberdeen. It was discovered in 1970 and first produced oil in 1975 under ownership of British Petroleum, now ca ...

. Since 2000 it has been working in the

Cantarell Field Cantarell Field or Cantarell Complex is an supergiant offshore oil field in Mexico. It was discovered in 1976 after oil stains were noticed by a fisherman, Rudesindo Cantarell Jimenez, in 1972. It was placed on nitrogen injection in 2000, and pr ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

as an offshore construction and maintenance service vessel operated by Cotemar S.A de C.V.

Particulars

''Iolair'' is a self-propelled, twin hull, vessel and operates as a

dynamically positioned Dynamic positioning (DP) is a computer-controlled system to automatically maintain a vessel's position and heading by using its own propellers and thrusters. Position reference sensors, combined with wind sensors, motion sensors and gyrocompass ...

(DP) construction support vessel. The vessel can operate up to a water depth of , is long and wide, and has 350 beds with single and double occupancy. This unique vessel did not start as an ESV, but rather as the concept of a maintenance and support vessel (MSV). It was proposed for the Forties oil field, jointly owned by

British National Oil Corporation Britoil plc was originally a privatised British oil company operating in the North Sea. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company was acquired by BP in 1988, becoming a brand of it.BP Petroleum Development Company Ltd in the

. A particular feature of the design by the Naval Architects was that there was no cross-bracing between the pontoons. Instead, the platform was given extra strength by a box-girder construction and diagonal bracing was arranged from the centre of the platform to the pontoons. This arrangement remained virtually unchanged to the build completion and offered exceptional speed when the vessel was de-ballasted on the surface. The intention was to achieve a rapid response to emergencies, wherever they might be experienced in the North Sea. As an MSV, the vessel was always conceived to provide accommodation for about 220 persons,

saturation diving Saturation diving is diving for periods long enough to bring all tissues into equilibrium with the partial pressures of the inert components of the breathing gas used. It is a diving mode that reduces the number of decompressions divers working ...

facilities, a large workshop, craneage, and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

landing area with hangar and re-fueling. All were still featured in the eventual design but had been enhanced with other features and sophistication much of which was to support the emergency role. ESV incorporated novelty and ideas that were years ahead of their time. Indeed, part of the brief was that she should still be modern ten years after entering service. The saturation diving system was equipped with an advanced launch and recovery system.

History

Scott Lithgow Scott Lithgow, Limited was a Scottish shipbuilding company. History The Company was formed in 1967 by the merger of Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and Lithgows. Scott Lithgow was based in Port Glasgow and Greenock on the lower Clyde ...

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

, and launched on 6 April 1981. In her early years, she was based in the BP

. In 1995, she was sold to

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

drilling company

Reading & Bates Transocean Ltd. is an American company. It is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor based on revenue and is based in Vernier, Switzerland. The company has offices in 20 countries, including Canada, the United States, Norway, United ...

. She was to be converted to a workover/well intervention vessel and was stationed West of Shetland. The modifications included removal of some of the top structures, removal of the fire-fighting systems, closing of the dive tube and wave

surge tank A Surge tank is a water storage device used as a pressure neutralizer in hydropower water conveyance systems in order to dampen excess pressure variance. A surge tank (or surge drum or surge pool) is a standpipe or storage reservoir at the downst ...

. However the intended conversion was never carried out and she was heavily involved in the installation of subsea production equipment using Remote Operated Vehicles. She was also heavily involved in the commissioning of the

Foinaven – , photo = Foinaven_from_Achriesgill.jpg , photo_caption = Foinaven seen from Achriesgill on Loch Inchard , elevation_m = 911 , elevation_ref = , prominence_m = 690 , prominence_ref = , parent_peak = Ben Klibreck , listing = Mari ...

and

Schiehallion Schiehallion (; gd, Sìth Chailleann, ) is a prominent cone-shaped mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands, in the county of Perthshire. It rises to and is classed as a Munro. Schiehallion has a rich botanical life, inte ...

floating production vessels. In 2000 she left the UK oilfields and went to the Bay of Campeche, Mexico, working in the

. There she carries out construction and platform support work. She was sold in 2001 by

Transocean Transocean Ltd. is an American company. It is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor based on revenue and is based in Vernier, Switzerland. The company has offices in 20 countries, including Canada, the United States, Norway, United ...

, who had taken over Reading and Bates, then sold to Exeter Marine Ltd. and since 2017 is owned by Iolair Offshore Pte Ltd. and registered in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

, a long way from her original registered port of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Industry firsts

* Heave/swell compensation in the diving tube to enable operation in rougher weather. * A ''Citadel'' area to which people could retire and survive if the vessel was engulfed in gas. * A drenching system to cool exterior surfaces if the vessel was close to a burning platform. * The largest capacity and longest range firefighting monitors ever at sea. * Fixed water-cannon on the after columns to cool the underside of production platforms. ''Iolair'' is assured of its place in history by being the subject of a 28 p commemorative stamp issued by

Post Office Ltd. gd, Oifis a' Phuist kw, Sodhva an Post ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Post Office Logo.svg , type = State-owned private company limited by shares , genre = , predecessor = General Post Office , foundation = 1987 , founder = , location_c ...

on 25 May 1983. This was one of a series of three stamps celebrating British Engineering Achievements.

References

{{BP 1982 ships Oil platforms Semi-submersibles Ships built on the River Clyde Transocean Ships of BP