Named after an early sea-god in Greek mythology with connotations of versatility and adaptability, Proteus forms the 5th vessel in the Osiris Projects fleet.
The high performance 14.0m GRP catamaran has been designed to provide an excellent stable, comfortable and fast working platform for coastal survey operations, and will be equipped with the latest technology from the company’s regular suppliers including C-Nav, RESON, Klein and Sonardyne.
Proteus will operate under MCA Category 2, meaning she can work up to 60 miles from a safe haven, and has a maximum design speed of 26 knots. Proteus will work primarily for the company’s oil and gas and offshore renewable clients, performing cable and pipeline pre- and post-installation route surveys around the coastline of the UK and Northern Europe. With a draft of 1m, Proteus is ideally suited to working in the extreme shallows; clearly an important aspect of route survey operations. The hull design ensures exceptional manoeuvrability at both low and high speeds and incorporates a low drag profile ensuring excellent fuel economy.
The vessel features a moon pool, hydraulic A-Frame, and custom retractable transducer mounts, and is capable of operating a full spread of survey sensors, including a multibeam echosounder, side scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler and magnetometer. This capability optimises consistency between datasets acquired by Proteus and Osiris Projects’ 24hr vessels; 27.5m DP1 flagship ‘MV Bibby Tethra’ and 26.5m ‘MV Chartwell’.
Proteus will be the 4th custom build project undertaken by Osiris Projects, following the launch of 12.0m ‘MV Freja’ in 2002, 15.3m catamaran ‘MV Lia’ in 2004, and the aforementioned ‘MV Bibby Tethra’ in 2011. The success of Bibby Tethra, particularly in challenging sea conditions, has led the company to pursue the build of a sister ship over the next 2 years, to be built to the same fundamental design with a number of minimal alterations. Both Lia and Freja have also proven highly effective in coastal environments, and have completed over 200 marine survey contracts for marine renewables and oil and gas client alone.
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Osiris Projects, July 24, 2013