Esvagt Starts Fitting Out SOV Safe Transfer Boats Itself

Esvagt announced that it will fit out the Safe Transfer Boats (STBs) onboard its Service Operations Vessels (SOVs) itself from now on, and has started with the two STBs onboard Esvagt Mercator, a newly-built SOV chartered by MHI Vestas for the Belwind 1 and Nobelwind offshore wind farms in Belgium. 

The STBs will now be equipped in-house to give the mechanics an even greater insight into the boats.

The vessel operator said that it has fitted out the two STB7 boats (numbers 4 and 5) based on the experience gained from STB operations for MHI Vestas on the Esvagt Supporter SOV, as well as on the experience from building Fast Rescue Boats (FRBs).

“We have gained valuable experience from STB7 operations for MHI Vestas on the ’Esvagt Supporter’ that we can incorporate into the design. We know how the STBs work and we understand the tasks they need to perform. This means that we can be even sharper at matching the needs that they must fulfil,” said Søren Westphal, Service Manager for ESVAGT.

In addition to implementing the experiences gained, the company said that keeping development in-house is also important.

“No-one knows STBs better than we do because we designed them and built them ourselves. And when the STBs need a yearly survey, it will be done in our workshop. This is why there is a valuable synergy to be gained by fitting and equipping them ourselves,” Westphal said.

The company stated that the the continual implementation of design experience that has characterised the development of the FRBs has also been used on the STBs, and that this is how Esvagt incorporates its seafaring experience into continual product improvement.