Danes take Sea Slice delivery

Service provider Marine and Towage Services Group (MTS) has completed a charter to deliver a specialist offshore wind vessel to new Danish owners Advanced Offshore Solutions.

The vessel called the ‘Sea Slice’, has a specialist Swath design, comprising four small low-drag hulls placed in two linear pairs.

MTS said it is able to reduce its hydrodynamic drag as it moves through the water, both enabling the vessel to travel at higher speeds for a given amount of engine power, and reducing the effects of vessel motion on crew and offshore personnel.

The Sea Slice vessel was originally designed by aerospace defence business Lockheed Martin and built in 1996 at a cost of $15 million.  

It was subsequently sold last year to its new owner for deployment in the European offshore wind sector.

Having been shipped to Europe from the USA earlier this year, the Sea Slice was towed from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to Esbjerg in Denmark by MTS Indus – a Dutch-built 25-metre multi-purpose tug – over a two-and-a-half day period in early October.

The logistics were organised by GRS Global Renewables Shipbrokers.

Once deployed to a European offshore wind farm, Sea Slice will be used for a variety of tasks including dive operations, surveying and crew and equipment transfer.

MTS Group managing director Jon Parslow said: “European offshore wind continues to be a competitive market place, with a huge potential for innovation.

“Delivering the Sea Slice in time for the next phase of European wind development, is another example of how we’re continuing to support this maturing industry.”

Image: reNEWS