The marine technology player Alewijnse Marine has extended its successful partnership with Dutch shipyard Dok and Scheepsbouw Woudsend and offshore services provider Windcat Workboats with an order for the full electrical outfitting of the offshore crew transfer vessels (CTVs) Windcat 45 and 46.
This brings the total number of new build and refit installations undertaken by Alewijnse for Windcat at the yard to 17, over a period of ten years, it said in a press release.
The vessels form part of a series of CTVs that owner Windcat Workboats BV is having built at the Dok and Scheepsbouw Woudsend BV shipyard. The electrical outfitting of Windcats 41, 42 and 43 were recently completed by Alewijnse Marine and the in-yard team has started work on their sister-ship Windcat 44.
The Windcat catamaran vessels are used to support the maintenance of offshore wind turbines by transporting technicians, equipment and special cargos to and from the sites. Windcat operates a fleet of over 40 small, fast catamarans of various models. They can be found at work primarily in the North, Irish and Baltic seas, in the waters of seven countries.
For Windcat 45 and 46, Alewijnse will deliver the complete electrical installations including a console and alarm & monitoring system. A new feature for this series starting with Windcat 41 is the replacement of the conventional batteries with Lithium-Ion equivalents, due to their high energy density. Alewijnse is also assisting the yard in making and installing the aluminum cable trays and foundations.
Alewijnse and Dok and Scheepsbouw Woudsend have been working together successfully for years. Alewijnse project manager Bertran Smit said: "We have been at the yard since 2009, working with the Windcat vessels. The results are well above expectations with 17 vessels fitted out to date. The projects have generally gone well for all parties concerned. Woudsend and Windcat have been very satisfied with the quality of the delivered vessels and Alewijnse’s flexibility."