BMT Unveils New Vessel Designs

BMT has introduced two vessel designs aimed at Taiwanese offshore wind operations.

In March, BMT's Specialized Ship Design division attended an official keel laying ceremony for its new 36-meter service accommodation transfer vessel (SATV). BMT has partnered with high-speed commercial vessel builder Penguin Shipyard International (PSI) for the SATV as well as a new 26-meter crew transfer vessel (CTV).

The SATV design aims to push the boundaries of wind farm servicing and maintenance activities to a whole new level and boost productivity, according to BMT. The design aims to 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, BMT said.

In addition, BMT and PSI will construct a new advanced 26-meter 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.

The key function of these vessels is to transfer technicians onto the wind turbines using of BMT’s patented Active Fender System (AFS). The AFS, which is available in a number of sizes and has been further developed specifically to meet the market needs for these larger vessels, 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.

For better passenger comfort, 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, BMT noted.

Powered by twin MTU 16V2000 engines that are coupled to a Servogear CPP propulsion system, the new 36-meter SATV will travel at a high speed of 19 knots and cruise at a speed of 16 knots, with a deadweight capacity of 65 metric tons.

The construction of both newbuilds is well underway.