Orient Adventurer (Polar Onyx)

IMO number:  9664706

2014, 4 March:
GC Rieber Shipping ordered the ship for construction at Ulstein Verft. The vessel was initially named 'Polar Onyx' and was another on-time delivery from this yard. Irene W. Basili, CEO of GC Rieber Shipping, stated: "The vessel is designed to meet the increasing expectations from our clients in the high-end subsea segment regarding operational redundancy and flexibility. Our cooperation with Ulstein Verft has been excellent, which again has been essential for us in supporting our client.

Ceona chartered the vessel for a fixed period of five years. After delivery, a 275t vertical lay system was installed before she entered operations in May 2014. Her first assignment was to deliver deepwater SURF services to Petrobras offshore Brazil. 

The SX121 design has a high capacity for flexible pipe cargo below and on the main deck. The X-BOW ensures excellent sea-keeping capabilities and fuel efficiency. Polar Onyx has been built to the highest standard for station keeping, redundancy and dynamic positioning with DP3 and Operation +, providing reliability in operation. 

"Polar Onyx" is certified according to Special Purpose Ships (SPS) and Clean Design and carries a Green Passport. She has an extensive construction/cargo deck area of 1,700 m2. She has an AHC offshore crane capable of lifting 250 tonnes at a 14-metre outreach and a 12-tonne AHC offshore crane. She carries two work-class ROVs, one to be deployed through a moon pool and the other over the starboard side.

November 2015: 
GC Rieber Shipping acquired the Polar Onyx from Ceona. The first assignment after the takeover was a charter agreement with Marine Platforms Limited for a fixed period of 60 days starting in January 2016, with an option for up to 2 months of additional work. The assignment was to conduct flex-laying activities for Chevron offshore Nigeria.

February 2021:
Since 2016, GC Rieber Shipping has worked for DeepOcean on deepwater oil and gas projects in West Africa. The contract was extended to May 2021. In February 2021, GC Rieber Shipping announced another contract for the vessel from a Tier 1 subsea contractor for three months in the North Sea, starting on 1 July 2021. The assignment included options to extend this into Q4 2021.

December 2021: 
GC Rieber Shipping sold the Polar Onyx to the Taiwan-based offshore wind service player Dong Fang Offshore, a subsidiary of Hung Hua Construction. Delivery took place in February 2022. The vessel will be working on a 2022 construction campaign in Taiwanese waters. Her new name is Orient Adventurer.

March 2024: 
Seaway7 announced that after less than 6 weeks of work at the ST Marine shipyard, the vessel has been converted into a cable layer (CLV) and will start working at the Yunlin offshore wind farm. She will carry out cable-laying under the partnership between Orient Adventurer‘s owner, Dong Fang Offshore (DFO), and Seaway7. In February, the partners signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on collaboration in the Taiwanese offshore wind market. According to Seaway7, the vessel is a product of this collaboration as the conversion involved using Seaway7 cable lay spread and DFO’s vessel to create a dedicated cable laying asset for Taiwan.

January 2025: 
DeepOcean reunites with the Orient Adventurer and has signed a charter contract with Dong Fang Offshore. The Orient Adventurer will undergo an extensive conversion. The tower equipment will be relocated into new rooms on main deck, A and B decks. The vessel will also have a foundation for a W2W (walk-to-work) gangway system and a 3,000-ton cable carousel from Huisman. The conversion will be completed in 2025 so the vessel can be ready for operational work in 2026: Ulstein Design & Solutions AS secures record aftermarket… | Ulstein