tech file
New Series of WindCat Workboats
Morrelli & Melvin, collaborating with Lancashire, UKbased WindCat Workboats, has completed resistance, drag and safekeeping tests on a new MK4 series of WindCat Workboats designed to transport crews to offshore wind farms and difficult-to-access sites. Driven by twin 750 hp Volvo marine diesels, these 78.7 ft aluminum vessels can travel in excess of 30 knots per hour. Accessing offshore wind farm installations, which are often located in dangerous waters, can prove difficult, especially during hazardous weather conditions. WindCat Workboats is the owner/operator of specialty offshore windfarm utility vessels, with the capability of transferring personnel in seas of 6.5 ft. The company has vessels working in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium. "The added stability of a second hull and a platform have made catamarans the preferred boat for deliveries to offshore oil rigs for decades. With the growing acceptance and installation of wind farms throughout the world there is a greater demand for strong, fast, stable and comfortable work boats," said Pete Melvin, co-founder of Morrelli & Melvin. "We are especially pleased with the recent tank tests conducted in China. We designed a model for the WindCat Workboat at our Flying Eagle production facility in Fuyang City, near Hang Zhou, China and had it tested in a state of the art facility in Shanghai." The WindCat Workboats will be manufactured in the Netherlands and deployed primarily in the North Sea.
www.morrellimelvin.com www.windcatworkboats.com
Photo: Willem Harlaar
10 MN
June 2009