'Wind Force 1', billed as the first German-flagged offshore catamaran, has gone into service in the North Sea, servicing and maintaining the Alpha Ventus Wind Farm off Norderney, on Germany's northwest coast.
This 21 by 8.3-metre vessel was supplied as a flat pack kitset from Western Australia's Global Marine Design, and built by German yard Schiffswerft Diedrich.
The GL-registered vessel is driven by two Caterpillar C32 engines, each delivering 820 kW at 2,100rpm, giving a speed of 25 knots at working load. The vessel is fitted with twin Caterpillar C4.4 86 kVA gensets and twin 50kW bow thrusters.
'Wind Force 1' can also carry a 20-foot container on deck and up to 20 tonnes of cargo. The bow is fitted with a special bow boarding system, which allows fast and safe transfer of personnel to and from the wind towers.
Global Marine Design Director Gavin Mair explains that the design of this vessel and its sisters operating in other countries is quite different from "normal" catamaran vessels. It is not designed with low deadrise hull bottoms that try and lift the vessel at speed. Instead it uses a very deep-vee section of up to 60 degrees, to act like a high-speed displacement vessel. This gives the hulls large volume and good load carrying capability.