VESSEL REVIEW | TSM Batz – Renewables support workboat handed over to French customer

Dutch builder Neptune Marine has delivered a new multi-purpose workboat to French operator Thomas Services Maritimes (TSM).

Classed by Bureau Veritas, TSM Batz was designed to be a fit-for-purpose vessel for serving customers in the renewable energy and marine works markets. Duties include cargo transport, installation and maintenance of submarine cables, and salvage support over a projected operational service life of 30 years.

The newbuild has a length of 24 metres, a beam of nine metres, a draught of two metres, and a deck area of 150 square metres. The equipment includes an anchor handling and towing winch, a tugger winch, plough winches, a towing pin with chain stopper, a Mampaey towing hook, two Heila deck cranes, an A-frame, and spuds to allow operation in shallow waters.

Power is provided by two Volvo Penta D16 IMO Tier III engines fitted with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems and connected to 1,500mm propellers housed in nozzles. The engines produce 1,250 kW at 1,900 rpm to propel the workboat to a speed of 10 knots in addition to generating a bollard pull of 20 tonnes. An 80kW bow thruster is also fitted.

The vessel’s navigation and communications equipment includes a Cassens and Plath magnetic compass, a Jotron SART, two Sailor VHF radios, and a radar, an echosounder, a GPS, and an AIS from Furuno. These and other onboard systems draw power from two Volvo D7 134kVA generators.

Air-conditioned accommodations are available for four crewmembers and four additional personnel.

TSM Batz will be operated out of Brest by TSM subsidiary Iroise Mer.

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