New type of crew transfer vessel for offshore wind farms

The vessel to be provided is 18m long and 8,5m wide. The rating of the main engine is approx. 750kW and cruising speed 20 knots. The hull of the trimaran is made of aluminum and is ice-strengthened. The accommodation area is spacious for 12 service engineers.
Mobimar Ltd has developed trimaran hulls for many years. The designed hull was model-tested in VTT's basin laboratory comparing seacondition in open water and in ice conditions. According to Mobimar, tests performed by Aker Arctic have revealed that its developed hull shape breaks the ice with much less power demand than an equivalent sized mono hull ice breaker and still producing a wide and clean channel. Mobimar Ltd has received a world-wide patent for this feature.
The benefits of the trimaran hull are described to have a small water resistance, an even and significantly wider work deck area compared with a mono hull vessel of same length, very soft and good sea-keeping properties even in harsh sea conditions. Because of these benefits the vessel is also very suitable for oil recovery, sea surveys and transportation of passengers.
Operations are said to be possible up to a wave heigt of 2.5m.
The newbuild for Aura Mare Ltd is scheduled to be delivered in the beginning of 2012.