'Sea slice' delivered

Leading marine service provider, Marine and Towage Services Group Ltd. has successfully completed a charter to deliver a specialist offshore vessel to its new Danish owners, Advanced Offshore Solutions.

The ‘Sea Slice’, with its specialist SWATH design, comprising four small low-drag hulls placed in two linear pairs, 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 US 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 multipurpose tug – over a two-and-a-half day period in early October. The entire logistical set-up was organised by GRS Global Renewables Shipbrokers.

“European offshore wind continues to be a competitive market place, with a huge potential for innovation,” said Jon Parslow, Managing Director, MTS Group Ltd. “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.

“We look forward to supporting Advanced Offshore Solutions with their towage requirements in future.”