Seacat Services Orders Two Low-Emission Crew Transfer Vessels for Offshore Wind Ops

UK-based offshore crew transfer specialist Seacat Services has ordered two multi-hull crew transfer vessels (CTVs) from naval architects, BAR Technologies, designed in partnership with Chartwell Marine.

The first vessel, to be built in the UK, is scheduled for delivered in Q1 2022. The new vessels will be named Seacat Columbia and Seacat Cambria.

According to Chartwell, the vessels' design will make them more fuel-efficient and could cut CO2 emissions by up to 600 tonnes per annum per vessel if working on a 12-hour shift of operation.

"Seacat Columbia and Seacat Cambria will consequently be among the first true ‘Low Emission Vehicles’ (LEVs) servicing the offshore wind market, with total emissions 30% lower than conventional CTV designs," Chartwell said.

"Crucially for Seacat, these improvements come at no sacrifice to operational performance – with [Foil Optimised Stability System] FOSS, the vessel’s ability to reduce pitch and roll while lowering vertical acceleration in 2.5m wave heights will enable greater comfort during transit and improved push on performance during operations. This is of growing importance as offshore wind farms move further out to sea, requiring vessels to travel further for longer while navigating more challenging conditions," Chartwell said.

According to Chartwell, the BARTech 30 design has recently been awarded approval in principle (AiP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). which provides class-certified, Jones Act compliant option for vessel operators looking to enter the US offshore wind space.

Ian Baylis, Managing Director, Seacat Services, said: “After reviewing the latest options on the market, the BARTech 30 is the first one that has met and exceeded all of our requirements, embracing efficiency gains through design, instead of relying exclusively on hybrid propulsion. Adding this vessel to our existing fleet of OESVs is a simple, effective way to get ahead on emissions reduction without interrupting our current work scope.”

John Cooper, CEO at BAR Technologies, said: “Innovative vessel design and technologies are vital to supporting the offshore wind and maritime sectors. Seacat has a long history of setting the benchmark for operational best practice and we are delighted to help them continue to refine their winning formula, while creating a new fuel efficiency standard. The OEMs have consistently told us they want to reduce emissions in the supply chain, so we are proud to be delivering to brief.”

Andy Page, Naval Architect and Managing Director of Chartwell Marine said: “Every step forward in vessel design and efficiency must be taken with the needs of the end user in mind. The BARTech 30 capitalizes directly on operational feedback from leading firms like Seacat Services to ensure that emissions reduction is effectively realized - without being at the expense of technical capability and the service provided to offshore wind firms.”