SPONSORS OF SHIP BUILD FEATURE
WINDCAT WORKBOATS
THE FUTURE – A CHANGE TO OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS Until now the offshore industry has been well served by the current fleet of offshore wind transfer vessels. However, the majority of vessels operating in the sector are MCA Cat 2 classified which means that they can only work up to 60nm from a safe haven and this obviously has a number of implications for the R3 developments located further offshore.
TRAVELLING TO SITES Even without the classification issue, travelling to sites which can be more than 100nm from the shore on a daily basis will be impractical.
The solution is for installation and maintenance technicians to be based offshore on accommodation ships or fixed platforms for longer periods. Personnel can then be transferred from their offshore base to the turbines by sea or possibly by helicopter.
COMMUTING To transport staff out to the further offshore sites larger, fully classified passenger vessels are needed.
SPECIFICATION One such example is the Windcat 101 which is a 27m fully classed HSC vessel able to carry 45 passengers. A vessel of this specification can provide a fast transfer with speeds of up to 30 knots and it is this type of vessel which will be required to cope with the sea states that will be experienced in the R3 fields.
ADDITIONAL COSTS So why are there not more vessels with higher passenger capacity?
It is mostly due to additional costs incurred in meeting the higher classification. Once passenger capacity increases to more than 12, the vessel is subject to more onerous regulation as it becomes a ‘passenger vessel’ and there is no
differentiation between a person walking off the street and an offshore technician who is fit, trained in safety and emergency procedures and fully equipped with PPE.
STAFF TRANSFER Once in the field, there is still much debate about how staff will be transferred from accommodation to turbines and it is possible that both vessel and helicopter support will be used. Any vessel which is used and remains in the field will need to be lifted onto a mother ship for protection during bad weather but able to cope with the ‘normal’ sea conditions for the site which are like to be more severe than closer inshore.
Windcat Workboats
www.windcatworkboats.com
22
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140