Ginny Louise, a vessel designed by a Norfolk company to handle the North Sea conditions, enters service today. Operated by Docking-based Tidal Transit, she will be in charge of transferring workers from Lowestoft to the Greater Gabbard site off the Suffolk coast.
This £1.5m newbuild is designed to offer stability and safety while transporting people from the boat to the wind turbine platform thus she can deal with waves of up to 7ft (2m) what is beyond the capability of the majority of vessels in the sector now.
Ginny Louise is capable of developing the speed of 27 knots and has a range of up to 150 miles offshore. The vessel incorporates a kitchen, bathroom, internet and entertainment facilities offering comfort to a crew of four members and allowing a wind farm crew of 12 passengers to live and work on-site over several days.
The vessel was developed with Spanish boat builders Mercurio Plastics and is the first one among the fleet of 10 planned by the west Norfolk company.
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Offshore Wind Staff, February 20, 2012; Image: Tidal Transit