Dutch wind farm support cats under build
The SeaZip design has been developed from BMT’s range of Turbine Support Vessels.
BMT Nigel Gee Ltd has signed a contract for the construction of an initial batch of four Wind Farm Support Catamarans to be built by VeKa Shipbuilding BV at their Jongert yard in the Netherlands.
The vessels will be for operation by SeaZip Offshore Service BV, a Dutch company founded in 2010 by the shipping entrepreneurs J.R. Arends and S. D. Schakelaar, to focus on the development and operation of specialised vessels for the offshore renewable industry in European waters. SeaZip has identified the need for a new design of wind farm support vessel to service their target market and selected BMT as an independent designer of catamarans to undertake the design in conjunction with VeKa.
Developed from BMT’s range of Turbine Support Vessels, the SeaZip catamarans will be 19.5m in length with a beam of 7m and powered by two 720kW MTU diesel engines driving waterjets to achieve a service speed of 24 knots and a range of 300 nm.
The design has been specifically configured to meet SeaZip’s requirement to carry 12 passengers and enable the vessels to carry a combination of up to three standard 10’ ISO containers, one aft and two forward. The ISO containers will carry the necessary supplies and equipment for the offshore servicing tasks. The foredeck layout has been expressly configured to incorporate the new Turbine Access System (TAS) being developed by BMT and Houlder to provide safer access to the turbine structures.
Construction of the four vessels has commenced at the Jongert shipyard with BMT providing a full production design service including cut part information. The first vessel will be delivered to SeaZip by mid-2011.
Commenting on the significance of the order, BMT Nigel Gee MD John Bonafoux said, ‘This order is testament to BMT’s commitment to supporting the offshore renewables industry and demonstrates yet another success for the specialised vessel design team at BMT following the launch of the company’s range of Turbine Support Vessels in early 2010. Our TSV range has been specifically engineered to provide improved seakeeping and vessel performance in the environment pervading the offshore arena.
‘This marks the end of an excellent year at BMT which also saw the launch of the new Turbine Access System we are developing in conjunction with Houlder, which will provide a safer transfer capability to the wind turbines.’
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