Offshore geotechnical engineering and drilling company Geoquip Marine has completed a conversion and upgrade to its most recently acquired multipurpose geotechnical vessel, the Geoquip Speer, making it suitable for international DP operations.

As part of the refit, the Speer has had its moonpool design opened up, enabling it to be fitted with a fully heave-compensated offshore geotechnical drilling rig and deepwater seabed CPT unit, the GMC201, Geoquip Marine said on Saturday.

GMC201 is a 20T seabed unit designed to conduct an array of in-situ tests in either shallow or deep water. The seabed system is deployed through the vessel’s moonpool using a dedicated launch and recovery system.

Geoquip Speer was the second DP2 multi-purpose offshore support vessel to be added to Geoquip Marine’s fleet in 2019 following the Geoquip Saentis. Formerly MV Cristal, the Geoquip Speer was built in 2010, has a gross weight of 3504 tonnes and is 84m in length.

With the refit completed, Geoquip Speer joins four other specialized geotechnical vessels on Geoquip Marine’s permanent fleet.

According to the company, it has already been contracted for its first assignment, undertaking seabed CPT work for the largest offshore wind farm development in the USA.