110-Tonne Bollard Pull AHTS Order Lands at Rainbow Offshore Engineering

Rainbow Offshore Engineering (ROC), the offshore vessel arm of Shenzhen-listed Jiangsu Rainbow Heavy Industries, has won a contract to build an anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel with a bollard pull of 110 tonnes for an undisclosed South American owner.

The award extends a run of offshore orders at the Chinese shipbuilder, which has now booked new AHTS and platform supply vessel business in each of the past several quarters. For offshore operators in Latin American deepwater basins, the deal signals continued availability of competitively priced Chinese newbuilding slots at a time when anchor-handler capacity is tightening globally.

What will the new AHTS deliver?

The vessel will measure 71.95 metres in length and 17.2 metres in beam, sized for deepwater anchor-handling and towing work. Its deck equipment is specified for heavy offshore duty: a 300-tonne stern roller, shark jaws and towing pins.

Propulsion will be diesel-electric, paired with DP2 dynamic positioning and Tier II-compliant engines under ABS class. The shipbuilder has also specified a broad operational kit, including FiFi-2 firefighting capability, an OSR-C1 oil spill recovery system and facilities for supplying chemicals to offshore installations.

The shipbuilder said the vessel could handle a wide range of offshore duties, from conventional platform supply and towing to emergency response and recovery operations.

Why does this order matter for the offshore market?

AHTS tonnage with 110 tonnes of bollard pull sits in the workhorse band of the anchor-handler fleet — powerful enough for deepwater rig moves and towing, versatile enough for platform supply runs. The specification, combining diesel-electric drive with DP2 and oil spill response capability, reflects what charterers now expect from multi-role vessels rather than single-purpose tugs.

For ROC, the South American contract deepens a backlog that has been building steadily. In November last year, the company announced a separate contract covering multiple AHTS vessels for an overseas customer. In October, it added an order for one firm and one optional 4,000 dwt platform supply vessel.

The shipbuilder has also been advancing its SPP40 platform supply vessel programme, with the fifth unit in the series completing sea trials earlier this month — a sign that its production lines are delivering hulls, not just taking orders.

What does the order pipeline suggest?

The pattern of recent awards — anchor handlers for South America, PSV options for an undisclosed buyer, and a serial SPP40 programme nearing its fifth delivery — points to a yard positioning itself across the core segments of the offshore support vessel market. Repeat and option-based contracting also suggests owners are returning to Chinese yards for follow-on tonnage rather than treating these as one-off purchases.

For owners and charterers, the commercial effect is straightforward: more newbuilding capacity at ROC translates into shorter waiting times for delivery slots and competitive pricing against established offshore yards in Norway, Singapore and the Middle East. For competitors, it means a listed Chinese player with an expanding order book across both AHTS and PSV classes.

Neither the contract value nor the delivery date was disclosed, which limits read-through on pricing trends in the AHTS newbuild market. The identity of the South American owner also remains unknown.

Still, with the fifth SPP40 through sea trials and a second multi-vessel AHTS contract booked within roughly a year, ROC enters the coming quarters with momentum across its offshore portfolio — and offshore operators increasingly have a Chinese address on their list of credible newbuild options.