Programme

Where it stands

Stated plainly, because serious counterparties check. The design is pre-certified and the architecture is in service. No hull has been built. Hull one is open to an anchor lessee.

Status

Done, and to do

In hand

Lloyd's Register design pre-certification
Independent hazard review — no inherent safety weakness identified
Physical model testing of structure and hydrodynamics, University of Glasgow
Independent feasibility study, W.S. Atkins
Director-level shipyard price letter for supply, fabricate and erect
Peer-reviewed paper in the published record
Reference design defined and dimensionally fixed

Ahead

Pre-FEED package — basis of design, hull finite element assessment, mooring concept, topsides interface definition, class certification roadmap
Contemporary model testing and motion validation against the current reference design
Class notation pathway scoped with the society before design freeze
Shipyard capability and pricing study — candidate yards with box-girder semisubmersible experience
Anchor lessee for hull one
Financing structure for the build

Sequence

The route to hull one

STEP 01Pre-FEED package
Eight to twelve weeks. Converts a pre-certified historic design into a current, bankable engineering package. This is the gate to everything after it.
STEP 02Class engagement
Scope the notation pathway for a hull intended for multi-application deployment, before the design is frozen.
STEP 03Lessee validation
Term-sheet level discussions with a prospective lessee in each of two different sectors, to test appetite for a leased host against building and owning one.
STEP 04Yard selection and pricing
Two to three candidate yards with relevant fabrication experience. Indicative pricing for a first unit and for a repeat-build series.
STEP 05Financing
Structure the build against a signed lease. Infrastructure funds and marine asset lessors scoped on appetite for holding residual risk in a standardised, redeployable hull.
STEP 06Build hull one
Unit class certification proceeds through construction in the normal way.

The gate is not capital for a fleet. It is one pre-FEED package and one credible anchor lessee. Everything after that is financeable against a lease contract.

What is needed

Four counterparties

An anchor lessee

The application that funds hull one. Most plausibly a hyperscale compute operator or a government water authority — both have immediate, severe pressure and long-term offtake logic.

Pre-FEED funding

An eight to twelve week programme. Scope and budget are in the pack.

A shipyard

Box-girder and semisubmersible fabrication experience, with slot availability for a repeat series.

A class society

Engagement before design freeze on a notation approach that does not presuppose the topsides function.

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