A vessel for the next generation

When REM Offshore decided to order Rem Pioneer, there was no charter contract waiting in the wings.

There was a market that appeared ready for new tonnage. There was a shortage of suitable vessels. And there was a belief inside the company that the time had come to strengthen its position in subsea.

But there was also a risk.

The vessel would be considerably more expensive than the PSVs and wind vessels REM Offshore had previously concentrated on. It would incorporate technology that was still relatively new to the offshore market. And, unlike a conventional newbuild, the project was not simply a repeat of something the company had already built.

"We did take a chance," says CEO Lars Conradi Andersen.

"We have built many vessels throughout our history, but when we ordered this one, hardly any vessels of this type had been contracted since 2013–2014."

That decision has since been followed by a wave of new subsea construction vessels entering the orderbook.

REM Offshore was among the first. And that was not entirely accidental.

A stronger position in subsea

Since its re-establishment in 2016, REM Offshore had built a fleet primarily centred around PSVs. But subsea had always been part of the company's history, and management saw an opportunity to strengthen that position.

A vessel such as Rem Pioneer represents a substantially greater investment than a PSV or a conventional wind vessel. But the market was beginning to improve, while technology was developing rapidly enough to make a new generation of offshore vessels possible.

"We saw a market that was improving," Andersen says. "We also saw that the technology available for a vessel like this was developing in a way that could make the ship more environmentally efficient, reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency."

The discussions started around 2022, and the vessel could be better, cleaner, more efficient, and more capable.

Potential charterers were part of that discussion as well.

"They were also pushing us, particularly on the environmental profile. They wanted vessels with a better environmental performance."

The result was a project that gradually became more ambitious.

Building before the market asks

One of the oldest dilemmas in shipowning is the chicken-and-egg question.

Do you build a vessel because the market needs it? Or do you wait for a customer to tell you exactly what it wants?

In this case, REM chose the former.

"We decided that the market had a need for this ship regardless, and that was when we ordered it ourselves."

The second vessel, Rem Ocean, is being built for a contract with DeepOcean and will work for Equinor.

The first vessel, however, was ordered on REM's own balance sheet.

That distinction is important.

REM was prepared to put capital at risk because it believed the vessel had a place in the market.

"We saw that there were very few vessels like this available to buy. The prices for the vessels you could purchase were almost as high as building a new one. We have good experience with newbuildings, so we decided to build exactly what we wanted."

That was the bet.

Not that the market would necessarily reward REM immediately, but that a modern, highly capable vessel would eventually find work.

"I don't think it was a huge risk. But we were first."

Why methanol?

The fuel choice was another part of the calculation.

By the time the project was taking shape, at the end of the Covid pandemic, "future fuels" had become one of the dominant themes in maritime technology.

There were plenty of possibilities, but there was also a challenge. Much of the technology was either expensive, immature or both. For a vessel representing a very substantial capital investment, REM could not afford to experiment simply for the sake of being seen to experiment.

"If you build a ship with the kind of value we are talking about here, you cannot afford to fail," Andersen says.

"You have to choose technology you can trust will work."

Dual fuel with methanol therefore became a natural choice.

One reason was its relatively compact footprint.

Hydrogen, ammonia or large battery installations could have a much greater impact on the vessel's design and available space. Methanol offered another possibility: the fuel system could be integrated into the vessel without allowing the alternative fuel to dictate the entire design.

That philosophy remains central to the vessel.

REM wanted to prepare for a lower-carbon future without building a ship that became dependent on an immature fuel infrastructure.

Controlled risk

The philosophy could be summed up in two words: controlled risk.

REM did not simply choose the most conservative solution. Nor did it chase every piece of new technology available. Instead, it selected technologies that had reached a level of maturity where the company believed the risks were manageable.

Electrification is one example. Methanol is another.

Both are now sufficiently proven to provide confidence. Other technologies were considered but rejected, at least for this vessel.

But REM did not want Rem Pioneer to become a technology demonstrator where the commercial operation of the ship was secondary.

"We have been very focused on building technology that gives the vessel a unique emissions profile, but without using technology that has not been proven."

That does not mean the vessel is conservative.

Quite the opposite.

The power-management system includes features that are new to the company and designed to regenerate power from the main cranes and cargo-handling systems.

"That is something new," Andersen says.

"So we haven't only chosen safe things. We have taken a step that we are comfortable taking."

More than methanol-ready

The term "methanol-ready" has become increasingly common in the newbuild market.

Andersen is not particularly impressed.

The problem, he argues, is that the term can create the impression that a vessel is ready to operate on methanol when, in reality, significant modifications may still be required.

"We call it a rather silly term because it is confusing." "We are more than methanol-ready. We can run on methanol."

That required an additional investment, one that many competitors have been unwilling to make. Andersen believes the distinction will become increasingly important.

"The cost is something many others have chosen not to take."

For REM, the argument is straightforward.

The vessel can operate on conventional marine gas oil. But if a charterer has access to methanol and wants to use it, the ship can take that step immediately. That flexibility is important because REM does not control the fuel supply.

The charterer does.

"We are a shipowner that charters out our vessels. The people who provide the fuel for today's vessels are our customers, and that will also be the case with methanol."

The ship therefore does not depend on methanol being available everywhere.

It can operate without it.

And that, Andersen believes, is one of the vessel's strongest characteristics.

Green even without methanol

There is a tendency to reduce the environmental discussion around Rem Pioneer to one word: methanol.

Andersen argues that this misses the bigger picture.

Even running on MGO, the vessel should provide a substantial reduction in fuel consumption and emissions compared with the existing fleet.

"We have chosen engines that are very good at running with low consumption on conventional fuel."

The methanol capability is therefore an additional option rather than the foundation upon which the entire business case rests.

"If we run on MGO, we still save a very large amount of fuel for our customer and reduce the emissions."

That was an important principle when the vessel was designed.

REM did not want to create an environmentally advanced ship that was commercially compromised by a lack of access to alternative fuel. Instead, it wanted a ship that would be highly efficient today while offering a pathway towards lower emissions tomorrow.

"Very green regardless," Andersen says.

A design developed from scratch

The relationship with Skipsteknisk was central to making that possible.

REM had operational experience while Skipsteknisk had the design expertise and was already working on concepts incorporating alternative fuels.

But neither side simply handed the other a specification. The vessel was developed together.

"I have done newbuildings where you simply turn the page and order another one of something you already have. That is very easy and efficient."

Rem Pioneer was different.

"It was a project that was really designed and developed from the beginning."

REM's operational people sat down with Skipsteknisk's engineers and designers and went through the vessel in detail. The practical experience of operating similar vessels could then be incorporated into a new design.

For Andersen, that is one of the most important parts of the project.

The difference between a vessel designed around a specification and one developed together with the end user can be found in hundreds of small decisions.

How equipment is arranged. How people move around the vessel. How operations are carried out. Where something should be located.

These are details that are difficult to capture in a conventional specification.

"That was the real symbiosis between the shipowner and the designer."

And it is something REM values highly in Skipsteknisk.

"They are good at working with customers and technology. They listen, and they are very good designers."

Why build in Norway?

The decision to build the vessel in Norway was not based simply on sentiment.

Andersen is clear about that.

"If I said that we would build locally regardless of the cost, the owners would probably raise an eyebrow."

REM has built more than 40 vessels throughout its history, and the overwhelming majority have been built locally. But the company has to remain commercially competitive.

Price, quality and delivery time all matter.

In the case of Rem Pioneer, the Norwegian maritime cluster managed to combine all three.

"We believe to a very large extent that we have achieved that here."

That is particularly important because Rem Pioneer is not a Norwegian vessel merely because it was completed at Myklebust Verft. A substantial proportion of the equipment and services come from the regional maritime cluster.

Suppliers from Ulsteinvik, Ålesund and Molde are part of the project.

The result is a vessel that demonstrates what the cluster can achieve when the different companies work closely together.

For Andersen, that has significance beyond REM.

"I have worked in this cluster since I graduated, and it is a strong cluster that has had many difficult years."

Seven of the last fourteen years, he points out, have been challenging. To be involved in a project that helps demonstrate the cluster's capabilities is therefore personally meaningful.

"To be part of restarting it a little is also a great journey for us."

Competition and collaboration

The Norwegian maritime cluster is unusual in another respect.

The companies compete. But they also collaborate.

Andersen believes that is part of its strength.

When a technical issue emerged during the development of Rem Pioneer, REM could bring together Skipsteknisk, Myklebust Verft, Evotec or Brunvoll within a very short time.

"Within an hour, we could all be sitting around a table."

Try doing that with a project spread across several countries and time zones…

The value of knowing each other

Andersen's own background gives him an unusual perspective.

Before joining REM, he was CEO at Myklebust Verft. That means he has experienced the project from both sides of the table.

"It was useful to have that experience during this process."

He understands how a yard thinks, the pressures involved in a complex construction project and what the shipowner needs from the yard.

But he is also quick to emphasise that Rem Pioneer was never the work of one person.

"There is no one person with one idea. It is a huge team effort."

That is why Andersen sees the Ship of the Year award as a team achievement.

The first REM Ship of the Year

REM Offshore has contracted a large number of vessels over the years and has consistently been willing to adopt new technology.

But Rem Pioneer is the first to receive the Ship of the Year title.

Andersen is clearly proud.

"It is a very nice confirmation that the work we have done is recognised and noticed."

He also sees the award as recognition for everyone involved.

"For REM and the organisation and our owners, it is fantastic. But it is also a very good recognition of everyone who has contributed – the yard, the designers and all the suppliers."

He repeats that it is a strong team victory. The vessel is the product of a network in which each company contributes something different.

A ship that has to earn its keep

That last point is perhaps the most important.

For all the discussion about technology and environmental performance, Rem Pioneer is still a commercial asset. It has to earn money.

That is why Andersen is careful about technological ambition. A ship can be innovative, be environmentally advanced and win awards. But if it cannot operate reliably and generate revenue, the business case collapses.

"If you take a ship out of the yard and it doesn't generate income from day one, you have a huge problem."

That is the discipline behind REM's approach to technology.

The company wants to move forward. But it wants to move forward with technologies that it believes can work.

Taking pride in the result

There is one final element that Andersen believes should not be underestimated.

Pride.

"We build complex, advanced vessels where we are world leaders."

That is the message Andersen wants to take from Rem Pioneer.

Not that Norway can build everything.

Not that every vessel should be built locally.

But when a project requires advanced technology, close cooperation and a willingness to solve difficult problems together, the Norwegian maritime cluster still has something very powerful to offer.

Rem Pioneer is the result.