France-headquartered shipbuilder Piriou has delivered two 26W wind farm support vessels (WFSVs) built at the company’s shipyard in Vietnam to their European owners.
The 27.4-metre Rix Leopard was delivered to Rix Sea Shuttle. From August 2016 to around September 2017, the vessel will carry the crews of up to 24 to and from Statoil’s 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm currently under construction off the coast of Norfolk.
The vessel is the largest in Rix Sea Shuttle’s fleet, and is specifically designed to operate in shallow waters surrounding many UK and European wind farms.
The Ocean Wind 9 of Hartlepool was delivered to AIS (Marine) 2 Limited and is the second vessel Piriou delivered to the company since April. Both of the WFSVs delivered to AIS will be operated by Windcrew Workboats and deployed in the North Sea.
The vessels were built based on a design by BMT Nigel Gee. They are MCA category 1 and are certified by Bureau Veritas.
Both WFSVs can carry up to 24 technicians. Their side doors now also allow direct access from the passengers lounge outward.
In terms of equipment, these vessels are fitted with a 8.5 t/m crane on foredeck.
Rix Leopard is also equipped with 3 point mooring system to allow diving operations.