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New SWATH vessel for Maritime Craft Services

By: Sue Crothers 13/03/2015 LTS

General Vessels

Ad Hoc Marine Designs Ltd has announced the signing of design contract for a 26m Typhoon Class SWATH Crew Transfer Vessel with Lung Teh Shipbuilding (LTS) in Taiwan. The 26m Typhoon Class SWATH has been ordered by Renewable Energy Support Ltd (RES Ltd) and will be operated by Maritime Craft Services (Clyde) Ltd (MCS). The contract is initially for one vessel with the option of a further five vessels. The contract price from LTS to RES Ltd. is quoted as being competitive and comparable to the price of existing catamarans of the same size according to Fairlead Consultancy in Holland, representing LTS in Europe.

The Typhoon Class Swath Crew Transfer Vessel is aimed to satisfy two different markets. The first being the more “workboat” role of the vessel and the other being the “passenger” role vessel. The 26m Swath CTV is under the 24m Loadline rule and complies with the MCA’s “The Workboat Code – Industry Working Group Technical Standard, June 2014, Area Category 1 and classed by BV.

The 26m SWATH CTV carries 12 technicians, 3 crew with a payload of up to 5.0 tonne as deck cargo in speeds of 24knots. The vessel is driven by a pair of MAN D2862 LE 466 diesel engines rated at 1029 kW via Jaure carbon fibre shafts to 2 CPP Hundested propellers. The engines are located in the haunch and therefore easily accessible from the main deck for lifting and general maintenance.

The 26m SWATH CTV is able to maintain its service speed in Hs=2.0m in comfort with benign motions (very low accelerations) thus reducing the fatigue of the crew and technicians on exposed routes which translates into extremely low levels of down time. To extend the operational profile even further and when against the turbine towers the 26m SWATH CTV is fitted with a fully automatic Island Engineering motion stabilisation control system using 4 fins with multi axis capability that provide pitch, roll and heave motion control. The system is also fitted with a 1 DoF “Docking Mode” control feature that is specifically configured to reduce bow heave motions and reduce the amplitude of the bow vertical motion at zero, and near-zero, vessel speeds. This system provides a superior level of comfort in seas well beyond Hs=2.0m up to the Class maximum of Hs = 4.0m, depending upon wave period.

Superior motions is just one part of reducing crew fatigue during long and difficult transits. The deckhouse of the 26m SWATH is located away from the engine room and air intakes to minimise noise and vibration paths, resulting in a quiet environment. This method was successfully used on a previously designed Swath for the UK MoD.

LTS has more than 30 years of building high quality cost effective aluminium vessels in the Asian market and their range of workboats speak for themselves. LTS has recently invested heavily into the company with the addition of a fourth building shed of 65 x 35 x 25m and the yard has also recently acquired a large friction stir welding machine for such projects.

The design by Ad Hoc Marine Deigns Ltd uses their decades of experience of successfully designing several different types of Swaths which includes the production naval architecture design of the SLICE © for Lockheed Martin, as well as their renounced expertise in aluminium designs from decades of fast ferries and patrol boat designs. The interior layout has been developed with the assistance of Henk Boorsma of Fairlead Consultancy. Using his 45 years of experience as captain, fleet manager, operational manager in the marine business worldwide of ferries, (fast)multihull, and wind farm support vessels.

Ad Hoc Marine Designs has also engaged the services of Harwood Marine (Philippines) to assist with the detail Class drawings, owing to their previous experience of Swath detailed design and aluminium construction expertise.

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New SWATH vessel for Maritime Craft Services

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