History
FROM A MODEST COASTAL CONTAINERSHIP TO CUTTING EDGE PLATFORM SUPPLY VESSELS
1998-2011
The Irish Meteorological Service forecasted deplorable conditions for the 13th November 1998. In Dublin, Christopher Opielok, experienced master mariner and just-become shipowner, painted the name “Christine O” on his first vessel, a pre-owned 145 TEU / 2200 DWT coastal containership. Under his command two German officers and six Philippine sailors. A normal crossing takes 15 hours. This one took 48 hours, battling a head-on force eleven gale, eight meter seas and a powerful ebb tide sweeping out of the Bristol Channel – a severe test to the intrepid ship owner’s perseverance. From here, Opielok moved on to build up a fleet of 13 vessels and provide his investors with comfortable profits.
In recent years, together with the Oltmann Group, a leading German ship fund and investment company, Opielok Reederei issued a total investment volume of over 220 million Euro and 105 million Euro equity. The package’s performance has been excellent, generating investors an average yield of 50 % p.a. on an average maturity of 3,8 years.
In September 2007 Christopher Opielok enlarged his shipping business interest in founding Opielok Offshore Carriers (OOC), a farsighted move to penetrate the North Sea’s offshore oil and gas industry that largely operates a veteran fleet requiring replacement. Since launching, OOC has pledged an investment into a fleet of UT 755 LN Rolls Royce and HI NS 70m Platform Supply Vessels (PSV). The OOC ships are fitted with FiFi 1 fire fighting capabilities, DP 2 dynamic positing systems and anti-rolling systems. Accommodation complies to COMF/V3 standards. Dry and liquid cargo is carried in tanks, pipes and other cargo on deck. Sailing in dark blue livery emblazoned with a white tiger, OOC’s GL classed ships are fully equipped to meet current and future requirements for PSVs operating under world wide stringent chartering requirements.
The first ship to enter the fleet, OOC Cougar, has quickly built a strong reputation in the spot market for her rugged reliability under Norwegian command since commissioning June 2008. At the end of 2009, after an extensive refit and upgrading to the DP2 dynamic positioning system, Opielok Offshore Carriers has dispatched Go Cougar, a Rolls Royce UT 755 LN Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) to Western Australia where it supply services to gas and oil development projects in the continent’s Indian Ocean shelf waters. In parallel, a number of OOC’s Hamburg office staff, together with a team of hand-picked British offshore mariners with North Sea expertise, have moved to Perth to work for a joint venture set up between the Australian Go Marine Group and OOC. Within a sizable investment program, OOC plans for 2011 include the phasing-in to its fleet of four further medium sized PSVs, OOC Panther, OOC Jaguar, OOC Leopard and OOC Tiger. These Henderson DP2 vessels, each with 600 to 700 m2 deck spaces, are under current construction at the Italthai Shipyard in Thailand.