VESSEL REVIEW | Celso Madeira – Fast, all-weather pilot boat for Portugal’s Sines Port

Irish builder Safehaven Marine has delivered a new pilot boat ordered by the Port of Sines in southwestern Portugal near the country's capital of Lisbon.

Designed and built in compliance to Bureau Veritas class rules, Celso Madeira has an LOA of 14.9 metres, a moulded beam of 4.1 metres, a draught of 1.35 metres, a lightship displacement of 17.5 tonnes, and shock-mitigating seating for up to five pilots and two crew.

The boat was designed to be capable of fully self-righting following a capsize thanks to its high buoyancy superstructure. To ensure that the vessel is ready to resume operations shortly after righting itself, numerous features were incorporated such as automatically closing air vents, 15- to 20-mm thick windows, and watertight cockpit doors.

In addition, the superstructure's forward windows are aft sloping to minimise pressure loadings when taking green seas over the bow. Double glazing on all windows ensures good visibility is maintained at all times without the usual problems of misting in poor conditions. Upward-facing windows provide the coxswain with improved situational awareness especially when manoeuvring alongside larger ships during pilot transfers.

Full live-aboard facilities are provided in the boat's spacious forward accommodation area, whose final design and layout were made possible partly through the installation of the engines further aft underneath the main cabin. This ensures that the engines are subject to reduced loadings and accelerations in rough seas. It also allows the engines to be quickly removed through hatches incorporated in the main cabin sole and cabin roof in the unlikely event of failure.

The forward cabin features bunk berths allowing the pilots to rest and relax comfortably during transits at nighttime. This area of the boat also provides increased seating capacity that can be utilised in an emergency, or when additional passenger seating is required. All cabin spaces feature air conditioning while the interior noise level is maintained to 74 dB thanks to specialised laminates and trimming.

The hull is fitted with a bonded high impact resistant polyurethane fender system incorporating a special larger fender arrangement at the boarding area, thus softening impacts and creating a gap for the ship's pilot ladder to lie without becoming trapped. Additional fendering at the rounded bow allows the vessel to be used for occasional "pushing" duties to assist pilots in small ship manoeuvres. A pilot boarding ladder is fitted on the port side.

Two means of MOB recovery systems are incorporated. These include Safehaven's proprietary lifting transom platform and a Jasons cradle system for deployment on the side decks. The Safehaven lifting platform was designed to allow injured pilots to be safely recovered from the sea even while unconscious. Electro-hydraulic trim flaps fully protected in recesses mounted under the transom provide control over running trim, providing precise manoeuvring that becomes critical when picking up survivors from the water.

Two Volvo D13 372kW engines deliver an operational speed of 25 knots. As proven during recent rough weather sea trials, the propulsion also enables Celso Madeira to safely endure five- to six-metre breaking seas and 50-knot winds up to 40 kilometres off the coast.

The boat's electronics suite includes Garmin radar and displays. All cabin electronics are positioned flush in an FRP "wrap around" helm console so that the displays are clearly visible and the controls are within easy reach of the coxswain.