VESSEL REVIEW | Langilea – Maintenance workboat to serve France's Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
France's Glehen Shipyard recently delivered a new multi-purpose workboat to the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the Port of Bayonne.
Langilea has been designed for the maintenance of port infrastructure as well as buoy maintenance, the lifting of moorings, the transport of equipment, and towing operations.
Low-emission propulsion ideal for harbour waters
Compliant with IMO Tier III standards, the vessel has a steel hull, a length of 19 metres (62 feet), a beam of 7.5 metres (25 feet), a draught of only 1.36 metres (4.46 feet), a depth of 2.45 metres (8.04 feet), and a deadweight of 22.
The dimensions make her ideal for operation in confined port waters.
Two Volvo Penta 368kW (493hp) engines will drive two propellers to deliver a bollard pull of 12 tonnes and a service speed of 10 knots. The engines are equipped with selective catalytic reduction systems with urea injection to reduce NOx emissions to permit operation in sensitive coastal waters, though they can also run on biofuels to further reduce emissions.
The onboard systems, which include a Furuno radar, draw power from a 28kW diesel generator.
Compact hull with full equipment suite
The vessel is fitted with two Melcal cranes – a 30 tonne-metre BV-ALM loading crane and a smaller crane for lifting personnel, equipped with a cherry picker.
The stability is optimised by a freshwater ballast system, allowing the trim and heel to be adjusted according to the operations in progress.
The vessel also has a 10-tonne winch to aid lifting as well as four anchoring winches placed at the four corners of the deck to facilitate the stability of lifting operations.
The pontoon construction meanwhile ensures ample working deck space for transporting cargo and for storing additional equipment.
Langilea was built in compliance with Bureau Veritas class requirements. Construction of the vessel also entailed project management support – including monitoring during sea trials – provided by French naval architecture firm Coprexma.
