Compagnie Maritime Monégasque (CMM) has commissioned a new crewboat design to transfer personnel between shore and Brazil's ever more distant deep sea offshore platforms and floatels.
In the development of the vessel, designer Damen had two main points of focus – the increasing distance from shore of offshore operations around the world and the sea conditions in which they take place. Working with maritime research organisations including MARIN, TNO and the Technical University (TU) Delft, Damen undertook detailed studies of anti-rolling measures and marine access workability.
Damen said the DP2-classed vessel will be the first of its kind to maintain high speeds in harsh weather conditions where motions are minimised by the active ride control system. The vessel is fitted with an integrated motion compensated gangway and a gyro stabiliser to provide a safe, reliable and high capacity transfer.
The hope with the integrated approach to the key equipment is to enable a more dynamic approach and settlement of the gangway during the transfer phase, thereby maximising operability.
Currently the tank test phase is underway at TU Delft to verify the behaviour of the design in both transit and transfer conditions before continuing to the engineering phase.