Tidal Transit has christened its new crew transfer vessels (CTV) Anthea Luna, which is on charter with the Belgian offshore wind farm operator C-Power.
The new WindFlex 27 Quad IPS model, delivered by Singapore-based Penguin International in March, will provide essential service and maintenance support to Thornton Bank offshore wind farm.
Situated 30 km off the Belgian coast, Thornton Bank was the country’s first wind farm to enter operations and consists of 54 wind turbines generating 325 MW of renewable electricity.
Based on the C-Power’s positive previous experience with Volvo Penta IPS propulsion the company chartered Anthea Luna before arrival.
Tailored to suit C-Power’s specific requirements, the vessel has high fuel efficiency and durability to accommodate Thornton Bank’s distance from the shore. Her future-proofed hull design and onboard systems also make her ‘electric-ready’ - retrofittable to run on zero-emissions power as the industry transitions to electrification.
“C-Power’s trust in our capability to provide high-specification crew transfer is a huge endorsement. As the industry increasingly adopts more sustainable, low carbon technologies, we’re proud to deliver a vessel that not only offers the highest levels of fuel efficiency today, but one that’s also ready to join the electric fleet of tomorrow,” said Leo Hambro, director of Tidal Transit.
“Thornton Bank generates 1,000 GWh)of renewable energy yearly, equal to the electricity consumption of 300,000 families. To help maintain such an important site, we needed a solution which offered the highest levels of reliability, durability, transferability and fuel efficiency.
“Anthea Luna offers all this and more. We are confident that she’ll play an integral role supporting our operational challenges we face especially in our unique in-house maintenance set-up,” added Stijn Deprez, asset & contract manager of C-Power.