VESSEL REVIEW | Austevolljenta – New ambulance boat to serve Norway’s Austevoll Municipality

Finnish builder Kewatec Aluboat has delivered a new catamaran ambulance boat to Austevoll Municipality in Western Norway.

Austevolljenta ("Austevoll Girl") was designed to be capable of day or night medical transport even under high sea states, though it may also perform search and rescue (SAR) and firefighting duties. An aluminium hull was therefore used in conjunction with a composite superstructure, which includes a cabin made in cooperation with Ocean Quality Systems. The wheelhouse is elevated to provide the two helm crew with improved all-round visibility even with the placement of the aft cabin accommodating patients, passengers, and medical personnel.

The new ambulance boat has a length of 22 metres, a beam of 7.5 metres, a draught of 1.42 metres, a displacement of 40 tonnes, and space for 12 seated passengers plus crew as well as a dedicated treatment room for two patients on stretchers. Other onboard facilities include two toilets, a shower, and a galley. Loading of stretcher-bound patients can be done via a hydraulic gangway on the bow or a lift at the stern, thus eliminating the need for the boat to reorient itself just to load and unload patients during time-critical medical transport sailings.

Two Volvo Penta IMO Tier III diesel engines deliver a top speed of 30 knots. The engines are fed by a pair of 1,000-litre fuel tanks. An auxiliary engine from Nanni Kubota is also fitted. An array of onboard data collectors supplied by Marfle aids the operators in assessing the boat's fuel consumption over time.

A monitor at the bow gives the ambulance boat its firefighting capability while a Luminell searchlight and a thermal camera are available for water rescues under low-visibility conditions. For navigation and communications, the vessel relies on Furuno, Simrad, and Cobham electronics.

NorSap Recaro seats are installed in the wheelhouse. In the treatment room are two Stryker stretchers fitted with Stem Eden bases and Undertun lifts. Highly ergonomic layouts were incorporated in the design of the cabin and wheelhouse interiors. The design minimises noise, vibrations, and vertical movements while also ensuring safe passage from the front and aft decks to the treatment room.

The main cabin, which has doors from Libra-Plast, is also spacious enough to house patients on wheelchairs. A small boat from AR Safety is also available for use during man overboard recovery.

Austevolljenta was ordered by Norwegian company Bukser og Berging and delivered by MarTec, Kewatec's local partner in Norway. It is the owner's first ambulance boat, though it also operates a number of earlier pilot boats that were also built by Kewatec.

The new ambulance boat will provide medical transport services for Austevoll residents in cooperation with local healthcare provider Bergen Hospital Trust for a period of 10 years. It will be based in Storebø but will serve a wide area between Fedje and Espevær.

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