Feature 2 | OFFSHORE SUPPORT VESSELS Flexible multitasking for CTruk cat
Martin Conway speaks to catamaran builder CTruk about its versatile new offshore wind farm support vessel Asherah, and how her flexible pod concept is enabling the boat to undertake a multitude of jobs.
the offshore wind farm support services market. From boatbuilders and naval architects to equipment, propeller and engine manufacturers, nearly every exhibitor appeared keen to express an opinion on this dynamic sector, activities in which have infused the marine industry with an energetic bounce-back from the recession-ridden gloom of the late 2000s. While it is almost certainly too late for
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newcomers to enter the market and build up a tidy profit from scratch, those companies that took the plunge and diversified into wind farm support a few years ago have found no end of work funnelled in their direction. In addition to generating much welcomed additional revenue from this niche segment, immersion in wind farm support vessel construction has enabled a number of shipbuilders to experiment with designs, in an effort to realise the most efficient and cost-effective modes of operation possible – providing lessons that can hopefully be applied to other vessel types in the future. One result of this trend for
TECHNICAL PARTICULARS Asherah
Length oa ............................................18.5m Beam ......................................................6.1m Draught .................................... 0.86m-1.26m (carrying 20tonnes cargo)
Lightship ..........................................24tonnes Operating speed ............................. 25knots Max speed ....................................... 30knots Classification ........................DNV 1A1 HSLC R2 Wind Farm Service MCA Category 2
Propulsion Engines .......2 x Cummins @47.8kW each Waterjets.................. 2 x Rolls-Royce FF41
Generator................................Beta 11kW Cargo capacity .........................20tonnes Fuel capacity ..........................16,000litres Fresh water capacity ..................300litres Complement Crew ........................................................ 2 Passengers ............................................. 20
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experimentation was unveiled in March 2011, when CTruk Boats launched the 18.5m multi-purpose catamaran (MPC) Asherah, which has been delivered to owner Brian Croucher, and chartered out to DONG Energy. Te vessel’s launch followed nearly a year’s worth of sea trials by DONG, especially when it came to testing the new MPC’s flexible pod system, a concept which, CTruk claims, could assist owners and operators to record crucial savings over the course of the vessel’s lifetime.
The need for versatility CTruk Boats is the boatbuilding arm of CWind, a provider of specialist services to the offshore wind farm sector. Andy White, chairman of CWind and managing director of CTruk, tells Ship & Boat International: “Te offshore wind farm market’s going to
f one topic reigned supreme at June’s Seawork exhibition in Southampton, UK, it was surely the current boom in
Rolls-Royce FF41 waterjets, coupled with Vector Stick controllers, enable smoother, user- friendly manoeuvrability once the vessel arrives at the turbines.
be really busy over the next three to five years, aſter which we’ll probably see activity tail off a little. “It’s also important to remember that
most of the work in this sector is chartered and that jobs tend to change a lot, oſten with little notice. Tere is also a certain element of ‘mission creep’ in some of these projects, because the market is moving so fast. As a result, these boats cannot be inflexible; they must be able to handle a variety of tasks – such as assisting with turbine cleaning operations, or loading and unloading generators and equipment from the turbines – to be truly cost effective.” These considerations underpinned the
design plans for Asherah, White explains. In addition to overseeing CTruk’s boatbuilding duties, CWind also operates the National Wind Farm Training Centre (NWFTC), which provides dedicated training for technicians accessing these structures. Colin Urquhart, NWFTC director, comments: “A lot of similar places have sprung up over the past few years, offering courses based on mobile mast support training. We prefer to
Ship & Boat International July/August 2011
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