Neptune Marine converts Jifmar EuroCarrier

The EuroCarrier 3212 Jif Artemis was already an accomplished vessel being the first ever multipurpose workboat to meet DP2 standards when delivered in 2004 and its capabilities have been enhanced further with the conversion, completed in just under four months, that sees the vessel lengthened, providing more deck space and increased accommodation capacity.

A new 10m long central compartment was inserted in the hull and follows a similar conversion to another EuroCarrier Jif Breizh in 2015. The lengthening increases the vessel’s deck space by 30% while also increasing its shallow-water capabilities with a further reduced draught of 2.4m.

Existing deck equipment has been retained making Jif Artemis ideal for: anchor-handling, cable-laying, mattress installation and ROV support operations. The extra accommodation provided by the upgrade allows the vessel to reach what is described as “unprecedented” capabilities with 23 berths in five single and nine double cabins.

The revised specification now includes a LOA of 42m, beam OA 12m and a clear deck area of 280m2 with a cargo deck load of 6t/m2. Fuel capacity is 171.3m3 along with 50.8m3 of fresh water. Twin Caterpillar 3512 main engines drive fixed-pitch azimuth thrusters providing a bollard pull of 40t, cruising speed of 7kn, maximum speed of 10kn and towing speed 6kn. Manouvrability is enhanced by two 320kW bow thrusters. Two Caterpillar C18, one C6 and one Mitsubishi 6D16T gensets provide auxiliary power.

Deck machinery includes a 60t brake load towing winch and a 190t anchor-handling winch holding 900m of 38mm wire and 50m of 52mm wire respectively. A 15t pull tugger winch is included along with a Triplex shark jaw forward and towing pins forward and aft and a lifting capability is provided by a Heila HLRM 230-4SL deck crane.

The vessel motto for Jif Artemis is “one boat from shore to offshore” and with downtime having to be kept to a minimum for obvious reasons a tight timescale for the conversion was required, one that Neptune was able to achieve with project manager Ulco Muiser stating: “It has been a challenge, but together with Jifmar and our preferred suppliers we managed to get the job done.”