June ABL Maritime Market Briefing | High Speed / Windfarm Crew Transfer Vessels
Join our June Maritime Market Briefing on the following topic:
High Speed Windfarm Crew Transfer Vessels: Risk for Underwriters
Richard Bailey – Technical Presenter / Marine Surveyor
Background
Crew transfer vessels are small, high-speed vessels, designed to carry a small number of workers (12-24) at high speed (25-30 knots and above) to offshore locations, normally wind farms and renewable energy projects but sometimes also oil and gas facilities. They are often highly specialised and can include Dynamic Positioning (DP), walk to work gangways or high-capacity firefighting systems.
They have small, high power, high speed, lightweight engines and drivelines. This can lead to very rapid and severe failures with expensive repair costs. Repairs are often complex and involve a large amount of access work and often entail renewal of the complete engine.
The hulls are often catamaran style made of aluminium. Whilst lightweight, the hulls may not be as tolerant of heavy weather and can be significantly damaged if not handled properly. The aluminium can also lead to electrolytic problems with sea water and any steel.
They operate much like a delivery van operating a high frequency service. As risk is a function of outcome and frequency, any high frequency increases the risk. The delivery van approach can lead to a switch it on / switch it off mentality, which coupled with small crew numbers can lead to a reduction in service maintenance.
June’s ABL Group Maritime Market Briefing aims to demonstrate what is a crew transfer vessel and what are the specific risks related to their operations.
Learning Objectives
- You will learn what is a high speed / windfarm crew transfer vessel
- You will be able to explain what are some of the unusual risks
- You will be able to list common repair strategies
The technical presentation will be followed by a live Q&A and a summary of last month’s ‘WreX Report’ – a selection of last month’s marine casualty case reports.