AFALINA (IMO: 1122582) Table Bay, Cape Town
AFALINA Offshore Supply Vessel | IMO 1122582 | Maritime Studies
AFALINA (IMO 1122582) is a new 82m offshore supply vessel in the Sinopacific SPP40 series. Explore specifications, design and maritime role.
A New-Generation Platform Supply Vessel in the Sinopacific SPP40 Series
AFALINA (IMO: 1122582)
AFALINA (IMO: 1122582) is a newly built offshore supply vessel (OSV) operating in the platform supply vessel (PSV) sector. At approximately 82 metres in length and with a deadweight of 3,900 tonnes, she belongs to a class of medium-sized offshore support vessels designed to transport equipment, supplies and liquid cargoes between shore bases and offshore energy installations.AFALINA is particularly interesting from a maritime-observation perspective because she is a very new vessel. Current AIS and maritime databases identify her as a 2026-built vessel sailing under the Liberian flag, with MMSI 636020726 and call sign 5LAK3. (VesselFinder)
Her IMO number provides the essential continuity for identifying the vessel even when her commercial name, flag or management arrangements change. This is particularly important in the case of AFALINA because the vessel has only recently entered service and earlier records identify the same IMO number under other names.
Vessel Specifications
Vessel: AFALINA
IMO: 1122582
MMSI: 636020726
Call sign: 5LAK3
Vessel type: Offshore Tug/Supply Ship / Platform Supply Vessel
Commercial description: Oil service / PSV
Design series: Sinopacific SPP40
Hull number: S1096
Year built: 2026
Flag: Liberia
Length overall: 82.00 m
Beam: 18.00 m
Gross tonnage: approximately 3,348 GT
Deadweight: 3,900 tonnes
Former/newbuild identity: CL SPEC SARAH / Nantong CIMC Sinopacific S1096
The currently reported dimensions are 82 metres overall and 18 metres beam, with a deadweight of 3,900 tonnes and gross tonnage of 3,348. (VesselFinder)
Some earlier records give slightly different tonnage and construction-year information. This is not unusual for a vessel in the transition from newbuild to commercial operation. Earlier records identify the vessel as CL SPEC SARAH, with the yard designation Nantong CIMC Sinopacific S1096. (VesselFinder)
Vernon Chalmers Maritime Studies
The SPP40 Design
AFALINA is part of the Sinopacific SPP40 series, a modern platform supply vessel design intended for offshore support operations.
Sinopacific Engineering & Contracting identified CL SPEC SARAH as hull S1096, the third vessel in the SPP40 series, with a nominal 4,000-tonne deadweight capacity and approximately 800 m² of deck area. The vessel was reported to be undergoing sea trials ahead of scheduled delivery in the first quarter of 2026. (LinkedIn)
This information is particularly useful because it provides context that a conventional vessel database does not. AFALINA is not simply an isolated 82-metre offshore vessel; she belongs to a defined contemporary design programme.
The SPP40 concept is aimed at the offshore energy-support market, where vessels need to combine substantial deck-cargo capacity with the ability to transport fuel, water and other essential supplies.
ShipSpotting.com for Maritime Photographers
What Is a Platform Supply Vessel?
A Platform Supply Vessel, or PSV, is essentially a maritime logistics platform.
Unlike an oil tanker, whose primary purpose is to transport liquid bulk cargo between ports, a PSV exists principally to support offshore installations. These may include fixed production platforms, drilling rigs, floating production systems and other offshore energy facilities.
The vessel transports the material required to keep offshore operations functioning. This can include:
drilling and operational equipment;
pipes and other long cargo;
food and provisions;
fresh water;
fuel;
chemicals;
deck cargo;
specialist offshore supplies.
The large, open aft deck is therefore one of the defining visual characteristics of the PSV. It provides the working cargo area required for the movement of equipment between the shore base and offshore installation.
AFALINA's approximately 800 m² deck area, reported as part of the SPP40 design, illustrates the importance of this feature. (LinkedIn)
Table Bay Maritime Environment Through Photography
A Vessel Designed Around Offshore Logistics
The significance of AFALINA is therefore not primarily her size.
At 82 metres she is relatively compact compared with many merchant vessels encountered in major commercial ports. Her importance lies in what she does.
Offshore energy operations require a continuous logistics chain. An offshore platform cannot simply return to port whenever it needs provisions, equipment or consumables. The supply vessel becomes the connection between the shore-based logistics system and the offshore installation.
In this respect, a PSV can be thought of as a specialised offshore truck — except that the road is the sea and the destination may be an installation many kilometres offshore.
This explains the characteristic architecture of the type: accommodation and navigation spaces are concentrated forward, while a large working deck occupies much of the after section.
Ship Spotting as Photography Hobby
From Shipyard Hull to Commercial Vessel
The history of IMO 1122582 provides an interesting example of the transition from ship construction to commercial operation.
The vessel was ordered under the yard identity Nantong CIMC Sinopacific S1096. A shipbuilding database records the vessel as an offshore PSV with a planned deadweight of 3,900 tonnes, dimensions of approximately 81.75 metres by 17.40 metres and a planned delivery date in January 2026. The same record identifies China Development Bank (CDB) as the group owner associated with the order. (New Vessels)
Sinopacific subsequently reported the vessel as CL SPEC SARAH, hull S1096, undergoing sea trials and scheduled for delivery during Q1 2026. (LinkedIn)
The vessel subsequently appeared in maritime databases under the name AFALINA, with Liberia as her current flag.
This sequence demonstrates why the IMO number is so important for maritime research. Searching only for a vessel name can produce fragmented information. Searching by IMO number allows the researcher to connect the vessel's newbuild identity, former name and current identity into a single documentary record.
A Recent Southeast Asian Operational Context
Current AIS information places AFALINA within the Southeast Asian maritime environment. Records have associated her with Vung Tau, Vietnam, the Malacca Strait and Singapore, while MaritimeOptima has also recorded a voyage sequence involving Singapore and an eventual destination associated with Soyo, Angola. (Maritime Optima)
This is particularly interesting because the vessel's operational geography demonstrates the international nature of offshore support vessels.
A PSV may be built in China, registered in Liberia, commercially managed through an international structure and then deployed to support offshore energy operations thousands of kilometres from the shipyard.
The vessel therefore becomes a physical expression of the global offshore-energy supply chain.
Ownership and Management
Current maritime intelligence records associate AFALINA with EULIMA OVERSEAS LTD as registered owner, China Development Bank (CDB) as commercial manager, and Seahorse Marine & Energy JSC as ISM manager. (MagicPort)
These relationships should be understood within the wider structure of modern ship ownership.
The company appearing on a vessel's registration is not necessarily the same organisation responsible for technical management, commercial employment or day-to-day operations. A single ship can therefore have several distinct corporate relationships.
For a maritime research project, this makes the IMO number particularly valuable because it provides a stable identifier across changes in name, flag and commercial arrangements.
A New Vessel in a Changing Offshore Market
AFALINA also illustrates a broader development within the offshore-support sector.
The SPP40 series represents an attempt to provide relatively large and capable PSVs without moving into the dimensions of much larger offshore construction or anchor-handling vessels.
The reported 3,900-tonne deadweight and 800 m² working deck place the vessel in a useful middle ground. She is sufficiently large to carry substantial quantities of offshore supplies while retaining a size appropriate to a wide variety of offshore-support operations. (LinkedIn)
The market context is also significant. The 2026 Seabrokers market report noted that vessels associated with the Sinopacific newbuild programme were being mobilised to Vietnam, while Seahorse Marine & Energy was identified as potentially taking over management of the AFALINA and KATRAN PSVs. (seabrokers.no)
This provides independent commercial context for AFALINA's early operational history.
AFALINA and Maritime Observation
For the Vernon Chalmers Photography Maritime Studies project, AFALINA offers an interesting contrast with conventional merchant vessels such as tankers, bulk carriers and container ships.
Her silhouette immediately communicates a different maritime function.
The large working deck, relatively compact hull, forward accommodation block and offshore-support configuration distinguish her from cargo ships designed primarily for port-to-port transportation.
Photographically, these features can be used as identification clues.
The IMO number then provides the documentary key that allows the image to be connected to the vessel's technical and operational history.
This is an important principle of systematic shipspotting: the photograph establishes the visual record; the IMO number establishes the vessel identity; maritime research establishes the context.
Why AFALINA Matters
AFALINA is also noteworthy because she represents the beginning rather than the end of a vessel's documented career.
Many vessel essays concern ships that have already accumulated decades of history. AFALINA is different. She is a newly constructed offshore support vessel entering commercial service in 2026.
Her future movements will therefore add layers to the historical record.
Future port calls, changes of ownership or management, changes of flag, offshore contracts and eventual changes of name can all be associated with the same IMO number.
In that sense, this essay represents the first chapter of a potentially much longer maritime record.
Conclusion
AFALINA (IMO 1122582) is a modern platform supply vessel designed for the demanding logistics requirements of the offshore energy industry.
Built as Nantong CIMC Sinopacific S1096 and subsequently identified as CL SPEC SARAH, she forms part of the Sinopacific SPP40 series. At approximately 82 metres in length, 18 metres beam and 3,900 tonnes deadweight, she combines substantial cargo capability with the compact dimensions characteristic of an offshore-support vessel.
Her current identity as AFALINA, her Liberian registration and her emerging operational history in Southeast Asia demonstrate the highly international character of contemporary offshore shipping.
For maritime photography, she offers another valuable lesson: not every significant ship is a tanker, container ship or bulk carrier. Some of the most specialised vessels are the comparatively smaller ships whose role is to keep the offshore industrial system supplied.
AFALINA is one of those vessels — a new-generation offshore logistics ship whose photographic record can now develop alongside her operational history.
Photographic Equipment
Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark III
Lens: Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM Lens
Photographic Genre: Maritime Photography / Ship Spotting
Location: Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
References
MagicPort. (2026). AFALINA — IMO 1122582 / MMSI 636020726. MagicPort. https://magicport.ai/vessels/offshore/afalina-mmsi-636020726
MaritimeOptima. (2026). AFALINA — IMO 1122582. MaritimeOptima. https://maritimeoptima.com/public/vessels/pages/imo%3A1122582/mmsi%3A636020726/AFALINA.html
Seabrokers. (2026). Seabreeze: May 2026. Seabrokers Chartering. https://seabrokers.no/chartering/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/06/Seabreeze-May.pdf
SINOPACIFIC Engineering & Contracting Co., Ltd. (2026). CL SPEC SARAH, Hull S1096: SPP40 platform supply vessel. SINOPACIFIC Engineering & Contracting Co., Ltd.
VesselFinder. (2026). AFALINA — IMO 1122582. VesselFinder. https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/1122582
New Vessels. (2025). IMO 1122582 — Nantong CIMC Sinopacific S1096. New Vessels. https://system.new-vessels.com/Ship-27276578-.html
