Rolls-Royce has secured a contract to supply water jets for three wind farm support vessels (WFSVs) to be built by South Boats IOW for the offshore wind transfer vessel operator Seacat Services.
In one of the biggest orders made for wind farm workboats, one 24-metre and two 26-metre aluminium catamarans, each featuring two Rolls-Royce 56A3 stainless steel water jets, will be used to transfer people and cargo to the growing number of offshore wind farms around the coast of Europe.
Andy Brett, Rolls-Royce Marine Sales Manager – UK , said: “Rolls-Royce water jet technology offers a combination of speed, efficiency and excellent manoeuvrability for these vessels, which will regularly operate in challenging sea conditions with strong winds and currents. These are essential factors when safely transferring people and equipment onto the turbine structures.”
This latest order brings the number of Rolls-Royce powered vessels in service or on order from South Boats IOW and their sister company Alicat Workboats to 24.
Ben Colman, Sales & Marketing Manager, Alicat Workboats Ltd. & South Boats IOW Ltd added: “ Reliability and performance are of utmost importance in our industry and are how all vessels are measured, which is why we choose Rolls-Royce water jet units. With the A3-series we have found excellent performance with speeds higher than predicted with excellent fuel efficiency as a result. The build quality and reliability of the A3-series water jet units is clear to see, we have seen excellent reliability from the 20 units we have fitted over the last couple of years.”
Also featuring on the vessels is Rolls-Royce’s new compact control system for water jets, which is completely tailored to suit owners’ requirements and reduces build and installation times. The new wind farm work boats will include MTU 12V 2000 engines which will power the catamarans to speeds of up to 30 knots.
Press release, March 10, 2014; Image: Rolls-Royce