VESSEL REVIEW | Anthea Luna & Imogen Rose – Tidal Transit welcomes new catamaran crewboats to fleet
UK-based offshore wind crew transfer provider Tidal Transit recently added two new catamaran crewboats in a series to its fleet of windfarm support vessels.
Built in compliance with UK flag rules and Bureau Veritas class requirements, Anthea Luna and Imogen Rose boast hull designs and onboard systems ensure that they can be retrofitted with electric propulsion systems in the future in line with end user requirements for low-emissions-capable vessels.
Designed for harsh operating conditions
The all-aluminium vessels each have a length of 27 metres (89 feet), a beam of nine metres (30 feet), a draught of only 1.4 metres (4.6 feet), a depth of 1.8 metres (5.9 feet), a maximum deadweight of 60, a crew of three, and business-class seating for up to 24 wind turbine technicians.
Each crewboat also has an 85-square-metre (910-square-foot) foredeck and a 35-square-metre (380-square-foot) aft deck that can accommodate a total of 20 tonnes of assorted payloads including up to three 10-foot containers or one 20-foot container.
Also on the port foredeck is a Palfinger Marine PK13001MB crane to be used for cargo loading and unloading.
The crewboats are each fitted with four Volvo Penta D13 515kW (690hp) IMO Tier II engines that deliver a top speed of 26.5 knots (24 knots top speed in wave heights of 2.4 metres), a service speed of 25 knots, and a bollard push of 17 tonnes.
The propulsion setup also ensures safe navigation even in significant wave heights of two metres.
The electronics suite includes a Simrad package consisting of a GPS, a class A AIS, a radar, an echosounder, and a compass.
The other electronics include an area A2 GMDSS, a Sailor handheld VHF radio for use by personnel on the outer decks, CCTV cameras, a Marfle vessel motion monitoring system, and an EPIRB and a SART from McMurdo.
Laid out for enhanced onboard comfort
Facilities on each crewboat include a mess/pantry, two toilets, and a wet changing room. The interior spaces have been designed to ensure noise levels are kept below 65 dB in the wheelhouse and below 70 dB in the other passenger spaces.
The crewboats are also equipped with handheld extinguishers, pumps and hoses for fighting onboard fires. Should evacuation be necessary, the occupants have access to lifejackets, immersion suits, and two 35-person liferafts. A starboard rescue sling is also available for use during MOB situations.
Anthea Luna and Imogen Rose have already begun operating on behalf of Tidal Transit in support of customers in the European offshore wind market.
Anthea Luna is presently deployed at the 325MW Thornton Bank wind farm situated 30 kilometres (20 miles) off the coast of Belgium while Imogen Rose, under charter to the Stowen Group, is at the Equinor-operated Sherringham Shoals 317MW project in UK waters off Norfolk.
