New kid on wind farms at a port near you

Ginny Louise, the first of a potential family of ten, was launched at the Mercurio Plastics Shipyard at Cartagena in Spain earlier this month and is due to arrive as deck cargo in the Port of Southampton in early December. From there it will call at Ramsgate, Harwich, Sheerness, Brightlingsea, Felixstowe, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Grimsby en route to its home port of Wells next the Sea on the north coast of Norfolk.

The purpose of this grand tour is to show wind farm operators the characteristics of a purpose-designed craft which Tidal Transit believes set it apart from its plentiful competition. Foremost of these is MCA Cat 1 coding, which will allow the craft to venture up to 150 miles offshore, within range of the UK’s forthcoming Round 3 wind farms.

Uniquely, Ginny Louise and its sisters to follow will provide up to 12 passengers and four crew with comfortable beds which will enable them to stay and work on offshore sites for up to three days at a time. Completing the package is rugged GRP construction to handle rough sea conditions and the capacity to achieve 27 knots with 12 passengers and six tons of cargo on board. The vessel has also been designed to sit on the mud at wind farm sites such as Sheringham Shoal and London Array, mitigating against tidal restrictions and again ensuring wind turbine engineers spend less time in transit and more time on site.

The second vessel, to be named Eden Rose, will follow early in the New Year and Tidal Transit has an option with Mercurio for a further eight sister vessels within the next two years, during which time it has first right of refusal over use of the mould. Tidal Transit worked closely with Mercurio in producing a design to optimise usability and passenger comfort within the confines of the 20m hulls.

Amenities for passengers include 12 suspension seats, 12 bunks, two showers, three toilets, fully fitted commercial kitchen and dining facilities, a water maker, internet access, 42” satellite plasma TVs, and even a Play Station. Also intended to benefit passengers is a patented hull design with a central nacelle to break waves for enhanced stability during transit. The elongated bows are designed to provide extra stability when up against turbines for the safe transfer of engineers.

The vessels are powered by twin V12 MAN engines derated from 1,800 hp to 1,000 hp each and driving fixed propellers through ZF gearboxes. The power down and 10,000 litre plus fuel tanks provide extended range for a vessel that can nonetheless cruise at 25 knots fully loaded in most weather conditions. Trolling valves deliver steady slow speeds for survey work. An extending Guerra crane on the aft deck has 975 kg capacity at 6.8m for long reach loading and unloading and can also be deployed for camera surveys and grab sampling through a moonpool on the aft deck. Bow thrusters optimise safety in close quarters manoeuvring.

Massive cargo decks fore (38.7 m2) and aft (22 m2) are capable of carrying up to 10,000 kg of tools, equipment, spares, fuel and consumables, enabling duty as effective supply vessels when required. Versatility extends to dive station support and internal facilities can provide an offshore base for site meetings, planning and project management.

The comprehensive navcomms package includes Koden MDC-2510BBS primary radar/chartplotter with 12 kW 6’ open array antenna and 17” display; Koden MDC-2040T colour secondary radar with 4 kW 3’ open array antenna and 10.4” display; Koden CVS-841C 10.4” colour echosounder, dual frequency 50/200kHz, 1kW with Koden KGC-1 GPS compass; CamNav Commander autopilot with colour display; Lorenz Magnum Pro chartplotter with GPS and 17” display; Icom IC-M603 DSC fixed VHF radio; Navicom RT-650 DSC fixed VHF radio; Icom IC-M801 GMDSS SSB radio with automatic antenna tuner; and an AIS.

North Norfolk has strong maritime traditions and Tidal Transit has no problem finding experienced and qualified crew who live locally and are directly employed. They are given every available relevant training . The burgeoning offshore wind industry has a new player, situated in close proximity to many existing and planned wind farms and poised to grow with them.