BMT Nigel Gee designed Trearddur Bay successfully completes sea trials
BMT Nigel Gee Ltd, a subsidiary of BMT Group Ltd, has announced that Trearddur Bay, its latest design for Turbine Transfers, one of the leading providers of Windfarm Support Vessels, has successfully completed sea trials in the Solent, achieving 31 knots with 8 tonnes DWT. With sea trials completed Trearddur Bay has immediately started work for Dong Energy, the company said in its press release.
Built by Aluminium Marine Consultants (AMC) on the Isle of Wight, Trearddur Bay was launched in December 2014. The vessel is 21m long with a beam of 7.0m and utilises BMT’s well proven catamaran hull form. The design is already recognised for its excellent fuel economy and seakeeping.
Trearddur Bay is the first vessel in world to be fitted with the Voith Linear Jet (VLJ); an innovative propulsor unit developed by Voith. The VLJ is an advanced ducted propeller combined with a stator positioned in the duct aft of the propeller, in a similar arrangement to that of a waterjet. Trearddur Bay is fitted with a VLJ 900 propelled by 2 x MTU 10V2000M72 engines offering very high efficiency and lower fuel consumption. For the same installed power the VLJ can provide a bollard pull approximately significantly higher than that of a waterjet and conventional fixed pitch propellers.
Ed Dudson, BMT Nigel Gee’s Technical Director commented: “Trearddur Bay’s successful sea trails demonstrate BMT Nigel Gee’s ability to combine robust, proven hull forms with innovative propulsion systems to new solutions for this fast growing market.”
