BMT Introduces Two Revolutionary Designs For Taiwanese Offshore Wind Operations
In March this year the Specialised Ship Design division of BMT attended an official keel laying ceremony for their revolutionary, new 36m Service Accommodation Transfer Vessel (SATV). BMT has partnered with Penguin Shipyard International (PSI), an established builder of high-speed commercial vessels for the SATV and the new 26m Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV).
The pioneering design of the new SATV aims to push the boundaries of windfarm servicing and maintenance activities to a whole new level and boost productivity. The advanced design will offer greater operational versatility, providing both long term offshore accommodation while still being able to push up against the turbine to transfer technicians. This flexibility provides a much more efficient operational profile for servicing turbines that are located further offshore and from the main ports.
In addition to this, BMT and PSI will construct a new advanced 26m CTV that will sit alongside the much larger SATV vessel. Both of these new designs have been commissioned by Njord Offshore and PSA Marine (PTE) who will use the SATV and CTV to service offshore turbines on the Formosa 1 Offshore Windfarm, situated in Taiwan.
BMT’s Specialised Ship Design Director Jago Lawless commented: “With increased investment and development potential in Taiwan and East Asia’s windfarm industry the most crucial issue, of course, is to be able to keep the turbines maintained and generating power, and to do so safely and as efficiently as possible.”
The key function of these vessels is to transfer technicians safely onto the wind turbines. This improved safety is achieved through the use of BMT’s renowned and patented Active Fender System (AFS). The AFS is available in a number of sizes and has been further developed specifically to meet the market needs for these larger vessels. This maintains the impact loading within safe operational limits thus ensuring that the vessel can engage correctly and ensures improved and continuous contact between the vessel and the turbine allowing for safe transfers.
Passenger comfort has been optimised by ensuring that all sleeping accommodation space is above main deck where noise levels will be kept to a minimum through the use of a resiliently mounted super structure, both of which are a first for a transfer vessel of this size.
Powered by twin MTU 16V2000 engines that are coupled to a Servogear CPP propulsion system, the new 36m SATV will travel at a high speed of 19 knots and cruise at a speed of 16 knots, with a deadweight capacity of 65 tonnes.
The construction of both these latest 36m SATV and the 26m CTV new builds are well underway and are soon to be introduced into service.
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