On the 31st of October 2012, Chevalier Floatels commissioned Holland Shipyards to undertake the conversion of DP Gezina. The vessel will be converted and upgraded to DP2 Service Support Vessel for staff accommodation and transport to offshore wind farms installations.
The key words: wellbeing and comfort of the staff, reducing operating costs and of course reliability. The ship will have Lloyd’s class approval and will be built according to the SPS Code.
The hull design, in combination with various techniques on board, provides the vessel with very pleasant sea keeping characteristics (no seasickness) and 30 days autonomy. The high quality finish, TV, internet and game consoles in every cabin and luxury common recreational areas, fitness rooms and 24-hour service are among the pleasant standards on board. DP Gezina offers accommodation to 60 people each in single-berth cabins, but the vessel can optionally facilitate 90 persons (partially in double-berth cabins).
Top spec navigation and bridge equipment, with integrated automation and monitoring systems guarantee a safe and reliable voyage. The extensive diesel-electric propulsion plant, consisting of two 360 ° azimuthing thrusters, a retractable 360° bow thruster and a fixed bow thruster, ensures high manoeuvrability of the ship. Fuel consumption and emission of harmful exhaust gases is relatively
A self-stabilising Ampelmann personnel transfer platform with a walkway will be fitted on the aft bridge deck. As a result of the optimised placement of the Ampelmann, entrance platforms of windmills (or working decks of a platform) can be accessed straight from the vessel. In combination with a reliable DP2 system, a safe, easy and fast transfer of the vessel to the windmills can be guaranteed. Even with wave heights of 3 meters (significant) work can continue, resulting in 85 to 90% efficiency.
Landing platforms are provided for other support vessels to come alongside. And there are even more provisions inside the hull, making the vessel even more versatile. It will, for example, include multibeam sonar facilities to perform bottom-surveys and inspections on foundations of offshore structures.
Although the focus has been on transporting persons and equipment to offshore wind farm installations, this vessel has also been developed with the offshore oil and gas exploration / exploitation market in mind. At the end of April 2013 DP Gezina is scheduled to be operational and available for offshore industry.
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Press release, November 26, 2012; Image: maritimeprojectconsultancy