Use of the boat will 'maximize the number of days on which wind turbines can be accessed, an A&R spokesman said, adding 'with this (ship), we will be able to transport our people to the wind farms and back to the living quarters on the transformer platform safely, even in rough sea conditions.'

The new building will be permanently located at the new wind farm on 24 hour standby. It will carry a crew of three and up to 12 passengers and four tons of material, drawing 2.7m and displacing 125 tons. A service speed of 18 knots will be provided by two MTU 12V2000M70 engines with a combined output of 1,580kW.

This is the eleventh SWATH vessel built by the Emden/Lemwerder shipyard. Since 1999 six 25m SWATH pilot tenders and one 50m station ship from A&R have been in North Sea service for German and Dutch pilots and the latest design is based on them. In addition, two 60m pilot station ships are on order at A&R for operation in the German Bight and a 40m SWATH expedition yacht is under build.

By Tom Todd