Safehaven Marine has launched one of their Wildcat 40 catamarans, the hydrographic vessel 'Jeanne Baret', for the port of La Reunion, off the south east coast of Africa.
The vessel was purchased through the French hydrograhic equipment supply company Cadden after an international tender by La Reunion in 2009. The vessel was built under survey to Bureau Veritas to the French Maritime authority's regulations.
The vessel is fitted with multi-beam sonar equipment including a multi-beam transducer, which is deployed through a moon pool in the aft deck by a hydraulically operated deployment frame.
The underwater section of the sonar head mounting is hydro-dynamically efficient, being of aeroform shape to minimise turbulence and pressure loadings on the mountings. The sonar head can lowered down to below keel level and be lifted up to above deck by hydraulic ramp; the moon pool can then be closed allowing safe storage of the transducer during high speed transits.
A second dual beam transducer is fitted in a removable module allowing transducer interchange afloat. It is fully faired into the hull to minimise turbulence.
The design features a forward cabin arrangement with a large, spacious aft cockpit. The main accommodation incorporates a central helm position with alongside seating for the hydrographical equipment operator/navigator and provides panoramic vision all round with all the electronic navigation and hydrographic displays situated in a large console.
On initial sea trials, the vessel achieved a 21-knot maximum speed, comfortably exceeding her contract speed requirement of 18 knots. By virtue of the heavy duty continuous rating on the Volvo D7 200kW engines, her operational speed is around 20 knots. The vessel is certified for 12 passengers and two crew.
