First Twin Axe Catamaran Almost Finalished
Damen is currently finalising the first Twin Axe catamaran to support offshore wind farms in the widest sense. The high speed support vessel 2610 is believed to be one of the most innovative design concepts developed by Damen in the last decade. Although the Axe Bow concept has been developed some five years ago with great commercial success, the Twin Axe offers a more stable platform within the 24 m loadline.
Compared to conventional catamarans with the same displacement the new concept offers reduced peak accelerations upto 75%, reduced calm water resistance upto 15% and reduced added resistance in waves upto 60%. To date Damen has delivered 25 Sea Axe monohulls and 22 are under construction. The first HSSV 2610 will be introduced during Seawork 2011 in Southampton, which is hold from 14 to 16 June.
In May the vessel will be subject to a test programme to verify the actual performance against the predictions and model tests.
Special features of this design are:
• front fendering designed for impact speeds over 3 knots without damage to the ship’s structure
• aft wheelhouse / accommodation for lowest possible accelerations
• flexibly mounted wheelhouse for lowest possible noise levels
• two-step gearbox for maximum bollard pull without engine overload at 0-speed
• large cargo deck for 2 x 20 ft containers (max. 15 t)
• diving / rescue platform aft
• high degree of customisation i.e. moonpool and extra accommodation
• fuel transfer option
• trimming of vessel using fore and aft fuel tanks
• extensive endurance
• 3 point mooring system