Plans for a new 41m survey ship have been announced by Alpha Marine, the east coast-based work vessel and marine support company located in Wicklow, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The newbuild represents an important milestone for the multi-disciplinary marine company, part owned by Cork based Irish Mainport Holdings, as the coastal survey and utility newbuild is to operate with ultra-low emissions, running on diesel electric and to be Tier III compliant.
The dynamic positioning (DP1) newbuild will be primarily fitted out for geophysical and hydrographic survey work. It will be equipped for a diverse range of offshore activities to include remotely operated vessel (ROV) works, seabed investigation, metocean support, and general offshore construction support.
For the comfort of the crew, the design of the ship is for optimal sea-keeping capabilities and features accommodation for 21 in addition to contractor personnel. This is where those serving on board will have ultra-modern working, living, and recreational spaces.
Commenting on the newbuild, Tim Greenwood, Managing Director, said: "The new ship will trade globally and is in response to the growing demand the company is finding from clients for seabed surveys, predominantly with the increase in offshore renewable energy projects”.
He added, “Alpha Marine has a strong in-house capability in ship design, ship management, and seabed survey, and the company has been active in the survey space for over three decades. We are very much looking forward to bringing this new ship to construction in 2025. The new build is one of a number of fleet renewals and enhancements to come in future years."
The news of the newbuild, which is to be Dutch flagged, comes at a time for Alpha Marine, which has a fleet comprising six vessels supplying a wide variety of duties. Afloat has examined the fleetlist which contains a tug/workboat, a multicat, two windfarm support/crew transfer vessels (one with survey capability) in addition to a pair of RIB's.
Such vessels serve in towage, salvage, diving, dredging, survey, construction, and engineering projects. In addition to vessel charter and consultancy services to the marine sector not just domestically but in the UK and overseas.
