VESSEL REVIEW | WINDEA Courageous – Versatile crewboats designed for US East Coast waters

WINDEA CTV, a partnership of Hornblower Wind and MidOcean Wind, has taken delivery of the first two vessels in a series of five windfarm crewboats.

The bespoke all-aluminium WINDEA Courageous and WINDEA Intrepid will be operated at the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

One each of the vessels was built by Gulf Craft and St Johns Ship Building, with another two crewboats under construction. The fifth crewboat is being built at Breaux Brothers' facilities in Louisiana. The design and construction ensured that all five crewboats were tailored specifically to meet the unique set of domestic regulations in the United States.

"These brand new, domestically-built crewboats are designed and constructed to safely, reliably, and speedily transport both crew and necessary equipment, using the onboard knuckling crane, from their onshore location to offshore wind operations that present rapidly shifting weather and sea conditions across all four seasons," Timothy O'Brien, the Hornblower Group's Senior Vice President for Ferries and Transportation, told Baird Maritime. "Having four main engines means these can be rapidly deployed to serve the needs of offshore wind projects both during the construction and operations phases without sacrificing reliability or crew comfort."

O'Brien remarked that the vessels will provide offshore wind project developers, government partners, and crews the reliability, efficiency, and sustainability necessary to ensure long-term success.

The crewboats each have an LOA of 98.4 feet (30 metres), a beam of 32.75 feet (10 metres), a draught of only 4.58 feet (1.4 metres), a depth of 14.25 feet (4.35 metres), a deadweight tonnage of 50, and space for six crewmembers and up to 24 technicians. Four Volvo Penta D13 diesel engines that each produce 690 hp (515 kW) at 2,250 rpm connected to Volvo IPS drives propel the vessels to a maximum speed of 27 knots and a service speed of 25 knots, while power for the onboard systems on each crewboat is drawn from two Kohler 40EKOZD generators.

"Each onboard Volvo IPS drive provides is paired with two opposing propellers capable of pivoting to eliminate rudders," added O'Brien. "All four IPS units work in concert via a single command unit that provides necessary manoeuvrability without impacting operational speed or safety."

Each crewboat is also ready for the retrofit of Volvo's parallel hybrid system. Transfer capability is enhanced by resilient-bow technology, which reduces impact forces applied to wind turbine boat landings.

"The propulsion set-up is fairly new to the US commercial market. Though the onboard units have previously been used on commercial vessels and personal craft in Europe, they are only now breaking into the US offshore wind market."

The technicians are housed in the safety and comfort of a resiliently mounted superstructure. In addition to spacious seating, the main deck level of the superstructure features a large galley and mess area, two bathrooms, and dedicated internal storage space.

The upper deck level of each vessel features a large, elevated wheelhouse as well as two single cabins, two double cabins, and three bathrooms for the crew. The wheelhouse itself has windscreens that are reverse-angled to reduce glare.

"The wheelhouse floats on the physical hull of the vessel on rubber units called isolators, allowing for a smooth, vibration-free ride," said O'Brien. "Additionally, the forward fendering system is a complex active fendering system designed and built in Europe, which allows the vessel to hold station in combined wave/swell conditions of almost two metres."

A large 1,076-square-foot (100-square-metre) forward deck and a 376-square-foot (35-square-metre) aft deck provide ample space for carriage of cargo to offshore wind installations. Each crewboat is also fitted with a Furuno radar and a Palfinger Marine knuckle boom crane on the forward deck.

"The vessels are outfitted with Reygar Bare Fleet Technology," O'Brien told Baird Maritime. "This technology, through a series of sensors, is able to track all of the vessel's operating parameters for review by crew and management. This unique system allows for extremely efficient operations as data are collected and digested."

The tank capacities on each crewboat are 9,510 gallons (36,000 litres), 925 gallons (3,500 litres), and 660 gallons (2,500 litres) for fuel, fresh water, and sewage, respectively.

WINDEA Courageous and WINDEA Intrepid were built in compliance to US Coast Guard Subchapter L requirements. O'Brien said that traditionally, such boats that comply with those requirements have usable working decks aft, so the crewboats provide a unique design where the working deck is forward of the bridge.

"The crane, the windlass, and the bunkering gear all exist forward of the house. Additionally, all passenger transfers happen on the forward deck."