‘Bibby WaveMaster 1’ launched for fit-out

This marks a significant step forward in the delivery of the purpose-built Service Operations Vessel, which will support offshore farm wind construction and operations and maintenance work. The vessel will be delivered to Bibby in mid August 2017. When completed, Bibby Marine Services Limited, part of the Liverpool-headquartered Bibby Line Group, will deploy the vessel to support forthcoming offshore wind construction and O&M projects in the North Sea. Bibby Marine Services Limited’s express aim is to serve the marine needs of the offshore renewables market.

Bibby commissioned the vessel from Damen Group in January 2016. The first steel was cut in February 2016 and the launch comes just less than one year from the keel laying which took place at the end of March 2016.

This is the first of Damen’s purpose-built Service Operations Vessels (SOV) with Walk-to-Work (W2W) capability.

Stephen Blaikie, Chief Executive of Bibby Marine Services explains, “This is an important key milestone in the 18 month construction programme. We have worked closely with potential clients and with the shipbuilder to ensure that the vessel meets the needs of its users. Fuel efficiency and clever personnel and logistics workflows are specifically designed to help drive efficiencies and reduce costs.”

MULTI SECTOR VERSATILITY
Bibby WaveMaster 1 is built specifically for the transfer and accommodation of offshore personnel and aims to maximise working time, technician comfort and safety. The design incorporates the philosophies of Damen’s E3 principle – Efficiency in operation, Environmentally friendly and Economically viable.

Equipped with DYNPOS (AUTR) DP2, the 90 m LOA vessel has a motion compensated access system (Walk-to-Work). During the construction process, Damen has continued to work closely with the client in customising the vessel in order to give it multi-sector versatility. This has included, for example, adjusting the design of the elevator to the W2W gangway. This now has six landings, meaning that technicians can directly access the gangway from the warehouse areas with a ‘stepless approach’. A helideck, daughter craft and CTV landings (with refueling) complement the vessel’s versatility.

Also upgrading the vessel’s workrole flexibility, Damen has increased the POB to 90, from the 60 envisioned by the standard design.

COMFORT IS KEY
Taking into account the trend for wind farms to go farther from the shore in more challenging seas, the customised design provides fast, safe and comfortable access to turbines, and at a lower cost, including in worst case scenario severe Central North Sea conditions. This results in a vessel capable of providing turbine access up to 3.1 metre Hs. The Damen SOV is able to remain at sea for periods of up to one month at a time.

During the two-year design and build period, when Damen and Bibby worked very closely together, a lot of attention has been paid to crew comfort on board the vessel.

For example, the 90 metre hull is longer than that of a conventional Platform Supply Vessel, this combined with the 20 metre beam and 4.6 metre draught, offers substantially reduced motions in every direction – resulting in significantly improved comfort on board.

The aft ship has been adapted specifically to the tasks that the vessel is designed for, including stern to waves operations. The strong V-shape and the slender aft ship make these operations much more comfortable than on a standard PSV design.

There are two large storage area for containers and this has been adapted so the SOV can also hold high cube containers.

Fuel efficiency is another key feature. The design includes a diesel-electric main propulsion system, which powers twin azimuth thrusters. Thanks to careful development, the vessel requires less installed power than a conventional PSV. This results from two factors – a symmetrical wind profile and use of a four split main switchboard.

Although primarily designed with offshore wind in mind in the case of the Bibby WaveMaster 1, the carefully considered design means that the vessel is capable of a much wider scope of work in a variety of offshore industries.

A range of options are available including an additional deck crane with up to a 24-tonne capacity, tanks arrangements suited to liquids such as glycols and low flashpoint liquids with separate delivery intakes, and facilities for dive support and ROV operations.

The next step is the completion of the internal fit-out. The Comfort Class 2 standard accommodation comprises 60 ensuite berths capable of accommodating up to 90 persons on board; all are equipped with TV, Wi-Fi, and are complemented by comprehensive leisure facilities and office facilities. The vessel hull has been designed to ensure exceptional seakeeping abilities and reduce the risk of motion sickness. The Bibby Marine Services crew will be joining the vessel and will participate in the upcoming sea trials.

Innovative design lies at the heart of the development – by providing a six stop elevator with access to the height adjustable W2W gangway there is a 100% step-less approach to the wind turbine, meaning that technicians can directly access the gangway from the warehouse areas. A helideck, daughter craft and CTV landings (with refuelling) complement the vessel’s versatility so that is suited to meet the needs of many sectors.

Peter Robert, Director Business Development & Market Intelligence at Damen said, “The combination of Damen and Bibby brings together a significant amount of knowledge, which has resulted in some impressive innovation. Carrying out the integrated HIL simulator analyses of the vessel +DP system + gangway system, in a time domain simulation with the actual controllers connected to it proves, in real life conditions, safe operations in the 2.5 metre Hs required by the tenders – the only vessel currently able to achieve this in fact.”

Find out more at Seawork International 2017 on the Damen stand PG105.

By Jake Frith