SWATH@A&R – References
Six 25m Pilot Tender and one 50m Station Ship are operating successfully in the North Sea for the German and Netherlands Pilots. During bad weather seasons, these vessels have performed pilot operation, while even bigger vessels had to stay in harbour due to severe weather conditions. Boarding operations were even performed at a wave height of 5.0 m. Due to the possible higher speed of 8 to 12 kts during pilot transfers, even under rough sea conditions, and the capacity of 8 Pilots (plus 2 Crew) these vessels allow a high pilotage frequency and have improved the Pilot services in the German Bight at first.
In former years, pilot transfers under adverse sea conditions, have been performed by helicopters, which created problems with smaller ships without proper winching space. The 50m SWATH Pilot Station Ship serves as the basis for pilot transfers in the Elbe estuary. Off-duty pilots and crews of the Tenders stay on board until their next job. Since the main task of this ship is station keeping and replenishment of the Tenders, which will remain in the operating area all year, the main design task has been for a ship with low sea response movement, while floating. So far all these ships have proven their outstanding seakeeping performance, even under severe storm conditions.
