Manor Renewable Energy (MRE) and Seacat Services have decided to add to their crew transfer vessel fleets with one newbuild each.
Manor Renewable Energy said on Tuesday that it commissioned a Chartwell Brevity Class CTV designed by Chartwell Marine. The vessel will be constructed by Manor Marine at their Dorset shipbuilding facility. According to the company, the vessel will be used in the offshore wind support market.
Construction of the Brevity Class vessel is currently underway, and completion is scheduled for early 2024. The 27.8-meter CTV will be fabricated using aluminium, making it lightweight and adaptable to suit the demands of the offshore wind industry. It will have a capacity of up to 32 personnel.
“MRE are delighted to be building again with the team at Manor Marine. The Chartwell Brevity, now under construction, is an excellent addition to our European fleet. We look forward to launching our latest vessel and fourth to have IPS propulsion early next year, ahead of the first charter in spring 2024,” said Mike James, Fleet Manager at Manor Renewable Energy.
MRE significantly increased its CSV fleet last year with the acquisition of Opus Marine which owned eight such vessels at the time.
As for Seacat Services, it partnered with Mainstay Marine Solutions to build the 20th vessel in its fleet, and the fifth Seacat Chartwell Ambitious design.
The 25.2-meter-long Chartwell Ambitious will also support the offshore wind market and its aluminium hull will provide space to transport up to 24 personnel to and from offshore wind assets.
Seacat noted that the partnership came amidst ongoing complexities in the UK shipbuilding market, where skill shortages and a lack of financial support from the UK Government have driven up manufacturing costs and derailed local content goals across the industry.
The company added that it will be solely investing in UK newbuilds despite that. This new order takes its total spending on newbuilds to more than £65m ($82m) over the last decade.
“We’re delighted to be able to build our 20th boat in the UK, despite the challenges. We remain dedicated to feeding back into our own supply chain and making sure value is felt here, by our market,” Ian Baylis, Founder of Seacat Services, said.
