Davit News

Norwegian davit supplier Vestdavit has notched up a new annual sales record for another consecutive year after seeing its order intake surge by 76% in 2023 on high demand from the offshore wind and oil and gas sectors, as well as increased sales in its core naval market.Vestdavit has expanded its market position in offshore wind after both gaining new customers and winning repeat orders with existing clients, including Esvagt and Rem Offshore, with orders in this sector accounting for more than $9.4 million (NOK 100 million)…

The much-needed replacement for the U.S. Coast Guard’s long-serving medium endurance cutters (WMEC) took a giant step closer to joining the fleet as the first Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) was launched and christened at Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) in Panama City, Fla. on October 27, 2023.The future USCGC Argus (WMSM 915) was christened by the ship’s sponsor, Captain (Ret.) Beverly Kelley, the first woman to command a U.S. military vessel, the 95-foot patrol boat, USCGC Cape Newagen (WPB 95318).

The Alabama Pilot, Inc. in Mobile, Ala., has taken delivery of its second Chesapeake Class high-speed pilot boat, Mobile Pilot, from Somerset, Mass. shipbuilder Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation. Delivery of its first Chesapeake launch, Dixey, was in 2017.With a length overall of 53.6’, a beam of 17.8’, and a draft of 4.6’, the new all-aluminum pilot boat, features the Ray Hunt Design deep-V hull. It is powered by twin Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines, each delivering 671Bhp at 2100 rpm and a top speed of 27 knots.

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment, said Wednesday it was launching an innovative range of lifeboats and davits which set new standards for compact and lightweight lifeboat-based evacuation solutions. "By challenging traditional lifeboat design, the 40- and 52-person VIKING Norsafe Totally Enclosed Lifeboats (TELB) respond to a rising tide of industry demand for space- and weight-saving boats for typical crew capacities," VIKING Life-Saving Equipment said."Major shipbuilding clients…

Offshore installation services firm Allseas has inaugurated 'Sandpiper', its new barge for shallow water offshore construction activities.Allseas said Thursday that the 170-meter barge was inaugurated this week in Singapore with a special ceremony after several upgrading activities in 2022/2023. The vessel is is a flat-bottom, anchored barge for shallow water offshore construction activities, purchased by Allseas in 2022 and upgraded for pipelaying in 2022/23.Sandpiper is equipped with a 10-point mooring system…

The Laurentian Pilotage Authority (LPA), based in Montreal, Canada, provides pilotage services in Canadian waters in and around the province of Quebec where cold weather can often be an issue for marine operators. So when it came time to order a new pilot boat, the LPA sought a vessel that could stand up to the region’s frigid conditions.The pilots turned to Estonia-based Baltic Workboats for the design and construction of the ice-capable Shipeku, a new 17-meter aluminum pilot…

Davits supplied by Vestdavit will be used for the launch and recovery of fast craft to support refuelling operations at sea for the US naval fleet after the company was awarded a major contract for six vessels being built by General Dynamics NASSCO in the US.The contract covers delivery of 12 high-specification PLRH-5000 davits to be installed on the John Lewis-class of T-AO oilers ordered by the US Navy at the shipbuilder’s San Diego shipyard, with two on each ship from T-AO…

As the devotion to more sustainable shipping expands and regulations become more stringent, the demand for lower emissions operations continues to increase. As a result, the marine industry is confronted with the challenge of large-scale electrification as an alternative energy solution.For electric ferries, one developing technology is Rapid Charging Systems (RCS), which transfer electrical power from the shore to a vessel at a high rate. These charging systems establish a ship-to-shore connection quickly…

Survitec, a survival technology solutions provider, has opened a new service center in the Port of Southampton, boosting its UK servicing capability.The 10,000 sq. ft building, newly fitted out with equipment and facilities for the servicing and repair of liferafts, lifejackets, immersion suits and other safety equipment, will deliver increased capacity and faster turnaround times when meeting the needs of customers in the cruise, defense, Border Force and commercial shipping sectors…

Canadian shipyard Davie reports it has completed repair of the ferry MV Félix-Antoine-Savard for the Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ).The car and passenger ferry, originally built in 1997, operates between L’Isle-aux-Coudres and Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive in the St. Lawrence River.Repairs on the vessel required over 30,000 hours of work, and the replacement of 28 tons of steel.Davie crews worked round-the-clock seven days a week to repair the MV Félix-Antoine-Savard so that it could be put back into service as quickly as possible.

Seattle shipbuilder Snow & Company announced it has been awarded a contract to build a pair of 50-foot pilot boats for the Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association, based in Louisiana. Designed by U.K.-based Camarc Design, the all-aluminum vessels have a refined hull with enhanced fuel efficiencies and reduced slamming accelerations, which provide excellent all-around seakeeping capabilities and a pilot specific shape to facilitate safe boarding operations.The vessels will be powered by twin Volvo Penta D13-800 EPA Tier 3 marine diesel engines…

At the Sea Tech Week Maritime Transport conference this past September, held in Brest, France, there was no shortage of big-picture, creative ideas pertaining to maritime shipping and alternative energy.One such project, called Seaguel, was presented as part of a larger discussion on hydrogen (H2) as maritime fuel. The full session was titled “Distributing Hydrogen from Offshore Wind Farms as a Fuel for Ships.” The topic was developed by France Energies Marines (FEM), a public-private R&D collaborative focused on offshore renewable energy.Right now…

Metal Shark delivered a welded-aluminum 45 Defiant crew boat to Anchorage Launch Services Company, an Oregon-based operator providing launch, line, pilotage, and cargo services to vessels on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.Designed in-house by the Metal Shark engineering team and built at the company’s Jeanerette, La., production facility, the 47 x 12 ft. twin-diesel waterjet-powered “Triumph VII” is now in service.“Our captains, crew, and passengers have all been very impressed with the capabilities of our new vessel,” said Alex Scott, COO of Anchorage Launch.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recently took delivery of three more RIBCRAFT 5.85’s. With these additional boats, all of the Department’s long range fisheries patrol crafts now operate with a new RIBCRAFT 5.85 onboard. The rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) are deployed for boarding and enforcement up to 200 miles offshore. The delivery of these 19’ RIBs completes the fleet with four others already in service.The new purpose built shipboard RIBCRAFT RIBs renewed the CAFW’s aging and varied fleet.

Somerset, Mass. shipbuilder Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation informs it has secured another pilot boat order from the Pilots’ Association of the Bay and River Delaware. The vessel will be the pilots’ association’s fourth Chesapeake Class launch and 11th pilot boat built by Gladding-Hearn since 1957. Delivery of the new pilot boat is scheduled for 2024.With a deep-V hull designed by Ray Hunt Design, the new all-aluminum launch measures 53.6’ overall, with a 17.8’ beam and a 4.9’ draft.

Vestdavit has developed an innovative heavy-duty davit for larger offshore wind workboats to be delivered for a green-fueled service operation vessel (SOV) newbuild as part of a multiple davit contract with Esvagt.Danish shipowner Esvagt earlier this year announced an order at Turkey’s Cemre Shipyard for an SOV to operate on green fuels under a joint newbuild project with compatriot offshore wind operator Ørsted.Powered by batteries and dual-fuel engines, the 93-meter-long vessel will be capable of sailing on renewable e-methanol produced from wind energy and biogenic carbon…

Vestdavit said Monday it had secured a contract to deliver its docking-head davit technology on a construction service operation vessel (CSOV) being built for Rem Offshore by Norwegian shipbuilding group VARD.The order for a PAP-15000 davit with painter boom has been secured with contractor Mare Safety for the first of two firm newbuild CSOVs that is due to be delivered in the first half of 2023 from Vard Søviknes.The PAP-15000 has an anti-pendulation system with a fully integrated docking head that is compensated for movement in three dimensions…

US Watercraft, the commercial boatbuilding division of Waterline Systems, said it is building a new oyster farm support vessel for Matheson Oyster Co., a sustainable oyster farm located in Virginia.Matheson Oyster came to the Hubert, N.C. boatbuilder with a specific request: build a low-freeboard vessel that can hold position safely and travel quickly in the choppy waters of Chesapeake Bay.US Watercraft’s 26-foot aquaculture support vessel design is the result of a series of conversations with the Matheson Oyster crew, where the builder learned about Matheson's innovative farming methods.

Vestdavit has extended its range of boat-handling systems with a new telescopic davit specially designed and developed for a retrofit contract with the Royal Danish Navy.The Norwegian davit supplier has now secured the award to deliver a total of eight TDBS 8000 systems for launch and recovery of fast rescue boats that will be installed on four existing Absalon and Iver-class naval frigates.The davit is designed to function in a similar manner to a crane with a telescopic arm…

Seattle shipyard Snow & Company has started building a new 15m hybrid catamaran research vessel for operation by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.The Incat Crowther designed vessel will be powered by an advanced parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system, consisting of two Volvo Penta D8-510 main engines, capable of producing 374 kW each, supplemented by two Danfoss Editron EM-PMI375-T200-2600 motor-generators. Power is stored using a state-of-the-art Spear Trident battery system…

Maritime Robotics' new multi-purpose Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) platform, the Mariner X, is the company's most configurable and optimizable USV platform to date, built to deliver high-quality data acquisition at sea.The first operator of the new Mariner X USV platform is Argeo. Dubbed Argus, Argeo’s first unmanned survey and inspection vehicle is intended to exploit the strong demand for accurate ocean mapping, especially within the growing offshore wind market. The Argus…

Vestdavit secured a contract with Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors to supply one of its HN-5000 workboat davits for each of the two vessels, NOAA ocean reasearch vessels. To be named Oceanographer and Discoverer, the ships are under construction for the NOAA at the Louisiana-based fabrication yard.The HN-5000 davits, due for delivery in mid-2023, are designed for reliable launch and recovery in variable sea states of workboats that will be used to carry out diverse missions ranging from general oceanographic research and exploration to marine life, climate and ocean ecosystem studies.

The Alabama Pilot, Inc. in Mobile, Ala., has ordered its second Chesapeake Class high-speed pilot boat from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation. Delivery of the new 53-footer is set for mid-2023. Delivery of its first Chesapeake launch, Dixey, was in 2017.With a length overall of 53.6’, a beam of 17.8’, and a draft of 4.6’, the all-aluminum pilot boat features the Ray Hunt Design deep-V hull. It will be powered by twin Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines, each delivering 671Bhp at 2100 rpm and a top speed of 25 knots.