Following the delivery of the fourth and final crew transfer vessel (CTV) built for CWind – the Hurricane TOW – in July 2016, Aluminium Marine Consultants (AMC) issued a release on 29 November, saying the four vessels have been built as “future-proof” for a booming offshore wind market.
According to Hurricane TOW’s AIS data, the vessel has joined its sisters Tempest, Tornado, and Typhoon TOW in Ramsgate port, and the four CTVs are currently deployed on Vattenfall’s Thanet and Kentish Flats offshore wind farms.
AMC commercial director Rob Stewart explained why the CTVs are considered future-proof: “They exceed all the usual specifications. The design has been considered and engineered for both current and future needs; it’s not just fully compliant with current UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency regulations, but meets MCA’s raised standards and new guidance. It was a conscious decision to take on ‘not just the word, but the spirit’ of that guidance, ensuring our vessels will be signed off without any grey areas.”
By 2020, EWEA expects 192GW of wind turbines to be installed, representing an investment of between EUR 90 billion and EUR 124 billion. The leading markets are Germany, France, the UK, Poland and Italy, and by 2020 354,000 people—up from 253,000 today—will be employed in the sector, AMC said, adding that many of those people will need to travel the average 43.3km from ports and harbours to offshore wind farms to install and maintain the turbines. “AMC’s advanced CTV concept is not focused on transit speed alone, though the vessels can achieve 28 knots, but also for sea-keeping qualities and the ability to remain at sea for extended periods,” the company said.
To achieve maximum working hours on the 25m vessels (Typhoon TOW and Hurricane TOW), propulsion is via a pair of MTU 12V 2000 M72 twelve-cylinder engines each rated at 1,080kW and with a guaranteed 100% of the duty cycle, with 10V engines on the 23m vessels (Tempest and Tornado).
Offshore WIND Staff