Barge Master offers Jones Act WTIV feedering solution

The BM-Feeder with tower seafastening and tower section.

Rotterdam, Netherlands, headquartered motion compensation specialist Barge Master BV has developed a solution for Jones Act compliant feedering of Wind Turbine Installation Vessels (WTIVs).

Barge Master’s BM-Feeder is a new motion compensated platform, with adjustable payload, that is designed to be placed on an offshore vessel or barge to ensure that the wind turbine components it is transporting are kept completely stable for hook on and lift-off by the installation jack-up.

Barge Master says that motion compensated feedering offers major benefits for the feeder operation. It enables a controlled hook on and lift off by the crane of the installation jack-up. After lift off, it decreases the risk of re-impact, by eliminating the swing and heave motion of the components.

The BM-Feeder can operate in up to 2.5-meter wave heights.
Barge Master has an extensive track record in motion compensation technology, with motion compensated gangways, cranes, and grippers in its portfolio. The new BM-Feeder platform is based on the company’s existing BM-T700 systems, a scalable platform with a solid track record in lifting, drilling, and feedering operations.

The BM-Feeder can be mobilized on a U.S.-flagged vessel or sea-going barge, able to load wind turbine components in a U.S. port and sail out to the installation jack- up, in full compliance with the Jones Act.