The ‘Xplorer’ has been built for the North East based company ‘North Sea Logistics’ and is the first of the brand new Wave Commander class of vessel from Alnmaritec. The boat was launched at Blyth in Northumberland on 20 February after some seven months under construction, having been designed to operate as a support vessel for offshore wind farms. This is the sixth in a line of craft that Alnmaritec has built specifically for this purpose.

Xplorer is an aluminium catamaran measuring 15m by 6m with a light displacement of 17 tons. The new hull form has been extensively tested in the model towing tank at Newcastle University to optimise performance. The boat is fitted with twin 490bhp electronically controlled Cummins QSC diesel engines driving Hamilton 364 waterjets rather than conventional propellers, which gives the craft a top speed of over 20 knots as well as excellent manoeuvrability and a shallow draft. Xplorer carries a complement of two crew and 12 passengers in the comfort of a large deckhouse, as well as cargo of up to two tonnes on the aft deck. The boat is fitted with an array of the latest electronic equipment including a satellite ‘man-finder’ tracking system, 3-D sea bed profiling as well as radar, GPS, chartplotter and satcom system.

Alnmaritec managing director Chris Millman said, ‘I am delighted with the boat, we see this as an important market niche for us and we have high expectations for this design. I am very grateful to North Sea Logistics for their continued support after our recent take-over and I hope that she serves them very well’.