South Boats Special Projects Ltd. and Seacat Services Ltd. announce the two companies have signed a contract for the construction of a pair of South Catamaran 19m Wind Farm Support Vessels. The two craft will be built at South Boats’ new facility in Cowes and will be delivered in May and June 2012 respectively.
The second vessel will be exhibited at Seawork 2012.
The craft are the latest generation of South Boats’ class leading wind farm service vessels and are the fifth and sixth of the new 19m class. Both will be built to DNV 1A1 HSLC R2 Wind Farm Service 1 class and UK MCA Category 1flag. Twin MTU 10V2000M72 1205mhp marine diesel engines with ZF gears driving Ultra Dynamics UJ575 water jet units for sprint speeds to 27 knots. The 19m is the first vessel to be designed with the benefit of extensive motion data captured from existing vessels and various wind farm projects. The hull is also fully tank tested to optimise the performance without sacrificing any of the company’s legendary sea keeping and ‘general purpose’ working abilities. The vessels are designed to be capable of accepting the Houlder TAS access system and can accommodate three 10ft containers on deck.
Seacat Services Ltd. is a new company founded by Ian and Nia Baylis who have extensive offshore and class experience. The company has significant investment and support from a Dutch private investor with extensive offshore experience. Seacat Services Ltd. have ambitious expansion plans and hopes to build a fleet of vessels to meet the requirements and demands of the rapidly growing offshore wind sector. Ian Baylis, who extensively researched the market and available vessel builders before selecting industry world leaders South Boats says, “ We are extremely pleased to be working with such a forward thinking boat builder who are at the cutting edge of technological and class developments. The pedigree of the design is unquestionable and we are very much looking forward to a long and productive working relationship with South Boats “.
South Boats Special Special Projects Ltd. of Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK, are the largest builders of offshore wind farm support vessels in the world. With 45 vessels in service within the sector with 13 operators, extensive operational and development experience has been gained on over 25 projects in 7 countries. With an extensive portfolio of designs from 15m to over 30m, South Boats develop vessels from the industry for the industry. Ben Colman, Technical Director of South Boats says, “We are delighted to be working with Seacat Services and look forward to delivering our 51st and 54th vessel for the offshore wind farm sector.”
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Source: southboatsgroup, June 13, 2011