Wind farm support cats to have Rolls-Royce water jets

24 m South Boats IOW wind farm support vessel

MARCH 7, 2014 — Rolls-Royce has secured a contract to supply water jets for three wind farm support vessels to be built by South Boats IOW, Cowes, Isle of Wight, U.K., for offshore wind transfer vessel operator Seacat Services.

The workboats, one 24-metre and two 26-metre aluminum catamarans, will each featuretwo Rolls-Royce 56A3 stainless steel water jets. They will be used to transfer people and cargo to the growing number of offshore wind farms around the coast of Europe.

Andy Brett, Rolls-Royce Marine Sales Manager – U.K., said: “We are delighted that Rolls-Royce has been selected to provide water jet technology for the next generation of European workboats being delivered by South Boats IOW. They are one of the leading builders of wind farm support vessels and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them in this expanding market.

“Rolls-Royce water jet technology offers a combination of speed, efficiency and excellent maneuverability for these vessels, which will regularly operate in challenging sea conditions with strong winds and currents. These are essential factors when safely transferring people and equipment onto the turbine structures.”

South Boats IOW, based on the Isle of Wight, is a market leader for the design and build of this type of vessel, purpose built to support the construction and maintenance of offshore wind turbines. This latest order brings the number of Rolls-Royce powered vessels in service or on order from South Boats IOW and its sister company Alicat Workboats to 24.

Ben Colman, Sales & Marketing Manager, Alicat Workboats Ltd. & South Boats IOW Ltd added: “Reliability and performance are of utmost importance in our industry and are how all vessels are measured, which is why we choose Rolls-Royce water jet units. With the A3-series we have found excellent performance with speeds higher than predicted with excellent fuel efficiency as a result. The build quality and reliability of the A3-series water jet units is clear to see, we have seen excellent reliability from the 20 units we have fitted over the last couple of years.”

Also featuring on the vessels is Rolls-Royce’s new compact control system for water jets, which is completely tailored to suit owners’ requirements and reduces build and installation times. The new wind farm work boats will include MTU 12V 2000 engines which will power the catamarans to speeds of up to 30 knots.