KBR subsidiary GVA has already spent seven months on feasibility and conceptual studies on the vessel, with the basic design phase expected to take most of this year.

"Heerema's selection of GVA as a partner in their development of this new heavy lift vessel demonstrates confidence in GVA's capability, experience and skills for such a challenging and strategically important project," KBR hydrocarbons group president Roy Oelking said.

"We see this as the start of a long-lasting partnership between Heerema and GVA, and are committed to supporting Heerema on future development projects."

The hull configuration will have a large deckbox on an eight-column structure mounted on two pontoons, while the lifting capacity will be 2 x 10,000 tonnes.

An estimated construction completion date was not revealed by KBR.