Osiris Projects, part of Bibby Marine Survey Services, announced building has commenced on a sister ship to Bibby Tethra, named Bibby Athena, to be launched in winter 2014. The vessel will mirror the capabilities of Bibby Tethra with a few subtle changes to reflect the company’s development into shallow geotechnical sampling and more challenging offshore market.
Launched in 2011, Bibby Tethra has proven the overall success of the small waterplane area twin hull (SWATH) design in maximising stability and seakeeping ability in challenging sea conditions, while consistently achieving quality data. The popularity of the vessel with the company’s key clients is ultimately behind the decision to commission and build an additional vessel.
Although Bibby Athena will be the same overall length as Bibby Tethra at 27.5m, the vessel will benefit from a number of enhancements, including an increased deck crane capacity of 10.87 tonnes and improved internal layout. The addition of two forward Schottel pump jets and larger aft electric Schottel drive motors will provide exceptional DP1 capability and an increased generator size will provide 850kVa of electrical power.
To maximise efficiency, Bibby Athena will be permanently mobilised with a dual-head multibeam system, greatly improving the productivity of bathymetric data acquisition and a water treatment facility will be added to extend offshore endurance. On the same theme of efficiency, a double drum main winch with two cable sizes will allow deployment of multiple systems without the requirement for remobilisation. A larger online survey lab will improve the volume of data processing and initial QC that can take place on-board, reducing the amount of processing required in head office.
As with Bibby Tethra, Bibby Athena will be built by specialist French shipbuilder Socarenam in Boulogne over a duration of 15 months. The shipbuilder is well known in France for their high specification military and customs vessels of various designs as well as large multi-role support vessels for the oil & gas industry.
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Press release, October 16, 2013; Image: osirisprojects