Second SWATH for Belgium’s DAB Vloot
Wielingen has now been handed over to Belgium’s DAB Vloot.
The next 25m SWATH pilot tender has left the German shipyard Abeking & Rasmussen at Lemwerder.
The Wielingen was handed over to the Belgium’s DAB Vloot (Loodswezen), meaning two SWATH pilot tenders are now available for their pilotage service on the Scheldt. The first pilot tender, Westdiep, was delivered in May 2011. The third and last tender will follow in December of this year. The new Belgian pilotage system will be completed by the arrival of a 60m SWATH pilot station ship during 2012.
On 14 May 14 2009 in Brussels, the Flemish Prime Minister Kris Peeters signed the contract for a new pilotage system for the Belgian sea ports, the financing of which was realized through a Public Private Partnership under the auspices of the Dexia group.
The decision to choose SWATH technology in the face of worldwide competition for the order was based on the good operational experience of the German pilots. The Elbe Pilot Association has operated successfully since 1999 in the North Sea off Cuxhaven with a 25m SWATH pilot tender and a 50m SWATH pilot station ship. These vessels perform their duty in a very tough workboat application all the year round under all weather conditions. Over this ten year period, pilot operations have become safer and more cost efficient. That experience has also been collaborated by Dutch pilots, who operate two 25m SWATH pilot tenders.
Abeking & Rasmussen has delivered or contracted 22 SWATH vessels thus far for customers worldwide. The Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) technology differs from a catamaran design in that the twin hulls remain completely submerged, minimising the hull cross section area and ship volume near the water surface, where wave energy is located. This increases stability even when travelling at high speed through rough seas.
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