Marcelo Penna, Safeway Design Trimaran SOV for Offshore Wind Sector

Spanish engineering company Marcelo Penna Engineering and the Dutch offshore gangway specialist Safeway have designed what they say is "an intelligent Service Operation Vessel" for the offshore wind industry.

"The outcome of the collaboration is the DP2 MP625 SOV combined with the recently introduced Safeway Gannet 3D motion-compensated offshore access system with its unique features such as ‘zero impact bumpering’ or ‘hover-mode’ and roll compensation capability" Safeway said in a statement.

According to the two companies, the trimaran hull feature of the vessel gains extra value in case of high seas, as the reduction of speed is almost zero compared to a calm sea state.

The design allows for up to 21 knots of max speed while providing full comfort for personnel and cargo transfers (between 1,000 and 2,000 kg) with up to 3,5m waves, compared to the industry norm of Hs 2.5m.

“Our Safeway Gannet 3D motion-compensated access system was developed in response to evolving requirements for fast, safe and efficient walk-to-work systems such as those being sought by Equinor and its partners for the massive offshore wind farms they plan to build on Dogger Bank,” added Wijnand van Aalst, CEO of Safeway. “Vessel and gangway must be able to connect and transfer personnel and equipment in a significant wave height of 3.5 m Hs, while the SOV must also be more compact than those built to date for services in the North Sea.”

With a length of 64 meters the MP625 is around 20 meters smaller than SOVs built to date, the companies said.

The vessel will be equipped with three diesel engines each of them being coupled with two electric engines offering a hybrid solution and a total output power of 4.4 MW. 

By equipping the SOV with lithium batteries, the vessel will be capable of remaining in DP for up to 12 hours in silent mode, the companies said.

 Credit: Safeway