Royal IHC successfully launched Subsea 7's 550t pipelaying vessel Seven Rio at its shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel.

The naming ceremony was performed by Anelise Lara, Executive Manager for the Libra Project of Petrobras, the company said in its press release.

Seven Rio is the second of a series of four pipelaying vessels of Subsea7 for the Brazilian Petrobras. Earlier this year Seven Waves was delivered to Subsea 7 and in 2016 Seven Cruzeiro and Seven Sun will complete the set. The vertical tiltable pipelay tower of the Seven Rio has a top tension capacity of 550t for installing flexible pipelines. She has two under-deck storage carousels with a capacity of 1,500t and 2,500t respectively. The vessel has twin ROVs that allow her to work in water depths up to 3,000 metres. On-board accommodation can house 120 people.

Croon is the electrical systems integrator and contractor for this new build at Royal IHC. The Seven Rio is a pipelaying vessel with high-end technology; engineering, integration and installation of a high and low voltage system, switch gear, distribution panels and a PMS. Croon fully utilized the experience gained building the complex Subsea 7 vessels and other complex projects.

The Seven Rio is the sixth vessel Croon has realized for Subsea 7. Other vessels constructed for Subsea 7 are the Seven Waves, Seven Oceans, Seven Atlantic, Seven Seas and Seven Pacific.