Piriou pair for windfarm support duties

French boatbuilder Piriou has delivered two 21m offshore windfarm support vessels called ‘Challenger’ and ‘Excalibur’ to UK-based North Sea Logistics. Built in Vietnam, the vessels will be operated in the North Sea.

Vincent Faujour, CEO of Piriou, said: “We are proud we gained the trust of a renowned operator as North Sea Logistics. We are now a major player in building wind farm support vessels to an industry with increasing needs”.

Dave Armstrong, managing director of North Sea Logistics said: “I am delighted with the performance of the new boats. They have proved on trials to be extremely capable in some very demanding conditions, and will be real assets to our UK/EU operations. They are a credit to the workforce at Piriou and I am confident that they will prove to be two of the best vessels in the industry”.

With a sea proven design by BMT Nigel Gee, the catamarans are certified by Bureau Veritas. They are designed and certified to provide safe and fast transfer within a range of 150 nautical miles from a safe haven.

They are powered by twin waterjets offering a transit speed of 25kn. They will carry 12 industrial personnel, offer an eight tonne cargo capacity and can store two ten foot containers on deck.