Acta Marine has recently named its third Walk to Work Construction Support Vessel in Den Helder, The Netherlands.
Mrs. Marianne van Oord named the vessel Acta Centaurus, Centaurus being one of the stellar constellations in the northern hemisphere. The ceremony took place in Den Helder with many guests attending the festivities and the tours on board the brand new vessel.
Mrs. Van Oord wished Acta Centaurus and her crew and charterers crew safe sailings in supporting the growth of offshore renewable energy.
WIND INDUSTRY OPTIMISED
After taking delivery from Ulstein Verft, Norway end April 2019, Acta Centaurus had her maiden voyage to Den Helder. At time of writing the vessel was being made ready for her first assignment in offshore wind.
Acta Centaurus’ first job has already been successfully completed by providing Dutch energy company ONE-Dyas Walk to Work support for a short maintenance campaign on the M7 Gas platform in the Dutch North Sea. “All systems have shown excellent performance. With great confidence, we move forward to her next assignment” says Rob Boer, Managing Director at Acta Marine.
Acta Centaurus will soon mobilize for the start of her charter with MHI Vestas Offshore Wind to support the installation and commissioning of 33 V164-8.4 MW MHI Vestas turbines at the Deutsche Bucht offshore wind farm in the German Exclusive Zone.
Acta Centaurus is a sister vessel of Acta Marine’s Acta Auriga which has been delivered in 2018 and has worked non-stop on the BARD1 Offshore Wind Farm. The successful concept has resulted in the addition of the second Ulstein built vessel. These vessels are jointly developed with Ulstein SX195 design features, an SMST 3D-compensated gangway, and a 6 ton 3D-crane as well as the special Ulstein X-BOW and X-STERN that optimize the overall seakeeping and workability of the vessel. The vessel has a 120 persons capacity and a helideck. In addition, Acta Centaurus will be outfitted with a hybrid battery package to further reduce fuel consumption and with that contribute to a lower CO2 footprint.
LOGISTICS
The optimised on-board logistics solutions of this vessel have been developed by considering the flow of people in various work operations. The vessel offers large cargo areas of 1,000 square metres, indoors and outdoors, with a container skidding system and ample space for in total 24 containers. All cargo handling is centralized, with stepless transfer to the cargo and personnel lift, and likewise over to the wind turbines or offshore platform. In addition, Acta Centaurus is fitted with a helideck to further support offshore operations. The overall logistics and the SMST motion compensated gangway, and integrated elevator tower will secure safe and stepless transfers of people and cargo in significant wave height up to 3 metres. SMST also delivered the 3D motion compensated knuckle boom crane which can handle 6t cargo in sea conditions up to Hs 2.5 metres.
HOTEL STYLE
Acta Centaurus features state of the art ‘’smart hotel style’’ accommodation for up to 120 persons. Ample office and works spaces are available for charterers. The mess room and lounge area include a library, coffee corner and a games room. The vessel also has a sauna and a gym/exercise room and offers very low noise and vibration levels which are rated better than the requirements for DNV-GL comfort level V2 class.
Ship owner Acta Marine supports clients on a world-wide basis in areas such as dredging, civil construction, offshore oil & gas and offshore renewables. The company is independent and family-owned and currently owns and operates a fleet of about 45 support vessels.
By Jake Frith
