Fremantle maritime support company Samson Maritime ordered two 40-metre fast utility vessels from Henderson-based Strategic Marine last July, with the first of the vessels launched early this week at Strategic's Singapore yard.
The vessel, named the 'Samson Supporter', has a top speed in excess of 25 knots, business class seating for 50 passengers with the ability to increase passenger numbers to 100 by utilising a modular interior, accommodation for twelve crew members, 120 square metres of deck space, as well as a central deck house.
Some of the unique features of the 'Samson Supporter' are its use of dynamic positioning to allow the vessel to remain on station for extended periods and conduct accurate ROV work, and a one-square-metre moon pool to allow hydrographic survey equipment to be deployed in a secure housing.
The vessel also has an A-frame crane installed on the aft of the cargo deck and FiFi 1 for firefighting, including a vessel deluge system.
Samson Maritime Director Jeremy Williams said these features were not required by industry standard crew boats, meaning the two vessels were truly unique.
"This brand new design combines the best of established maritime design principles with leading edge technology," Mr Williams said.
"Importantly, these new vessels are built to the stringent requirements needed to operate them on the Australian coast. These boats have the inbuilt flexibility to allow them to perform a wide range of both inshore and offshore maritime support tasks, including high speed supply runs, crew transfer, safety support and intervention and inshore and offshore survey tasks," said Mr Williams.