UK: MCS Contracts Damen for Three Twin Axe Fast Crew Suppliers

Maritime Craft Services (Clyde) Ltd has ordered three more Damen Twin Axe Fast Crew Suppliers just months after taking delivery of its first FCS 2610 catamarans. Based in Largs, Ayrshire (UK), MCS signed for three Twin Axes in November. The vessels will be delivered in the first quarter 2013.

The company’s first Twin Axe FCS 2610, MCS Sirocco was delivered in April this year and the second, MCS Pampero is awaiting a heavy lift carrier in Singapore and is due to arrive in Rotterdam before the end of the year.

New Twin Axe standard

Arjen van Elk, Damen Sales Manager North, West & South Europe, says that these latest two MCS vessels are built according to the new “Damen standard” FCS 2610, which has evolved and is now outfitted with a larger wheelhouse and superstructure, providing more accommodation space than the first models.

The Twin Axe design is a further development of Damen’s pioneering and highly successful Sea Axe concept. This unique hull form provides excellent seakeeping behaviour and means that the vessel can travel at full speed (26 knots), while still providing a safe and comfortable ride for the crew. The vessel can easily handle 2.5 m significant wave heights, without losing any performance and extensive tests have proven that the vessel reduces bow slamming entirely under certain conditions.

Offshore Wind standard

Introduced to the market in June 2011, the Damen Twin Axe Fast Crew Supplier 2610 is already establishing itself as “the industry standard” in the offshore wind industry when it comes to a number of maintenance tasks. Damen was delighted when a major wind turbine manufacturer recently put out a tender requiring that companies deploy Twin Axe vessels when handling its turbines. Damen is the only manufacturer of this type of catamaran, which was developed in close cooperation with the Delft University of Technology and other scientific research institutes.

Although the vessel has been eagerly adopted by the offshore wind industry, the vessel is suitable in multiple roles and provides a very stable platform for diving support for instance. It can easily be converted back into a basic crew supplier overnight.

The Twin Axe FCS 2610, which is 26 m x 10 m, has accommodation for crew in a maximum of five cabins and a capacity for transporting 12 technicians. Depending on the sea state, the maximum speed is 26 knots with a range of 1,200 nm.

With ample working and storage space on deck it is suitable for a variety of cargoes, including containers and has a large 20 tm deck crane, a spacious rescue platform, HP cleaning unit, a three-point mooring system and extra mooring winches.

It can be used to deliver cargo to platforms and carry out crew transfers to and from the turbine. The standard version has a 14.2 cu m fuel tank, which can be increased to 20.0 cu m using the aft trim tanks. Classed by Bureau Veritas, it operates under the Workboat Code, Category 1 in the UK, or any other Classification Society or Flag State if required.

Other Damen vessels for the Offshore Wind industry

Several Damen vessels are playing a role in the offshore wind sector including our survey vessels and the heavy lift, DP2 transport and installation vessels of Jumbo, which installed 131 Transition Pieces in the same amount of days at the Greater Gabbard Wind Farm, as well as the well-known Damen Shoalbusters and Multi Cats.

Damen has already thought ahead and developed a pioneering Offshore Wind Maintenance Barge, which will provide a base for remote infield operations. The accommodation barge is 72 m long and can be equipped with a suitable crane or other vessels on board. A new version of 91 m long, for 140 people has already been fully engineered. This platform can function as an accommodation for personnel, a storage place for critical spare parts, or a safe haven for small crew transfer vessels.

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Press Release, November 28, 2012