It features a bow-mounted robot arm for loading and offloading
German company Voith Turbo Marine Engineering has developed what it calls the Voith Offshore Shuttle, designed for wind parks. It features a bow-mounted robot arm for loading and offloading.
The loading arrangement was developed by Voith’s partner in the project, special-purpose machine builder Momac, and is known as the MOTS-system (Momac Offshore Transport System). Installed at the bow, this consists of what Voith describes as a “swivel arm robot, which allows safe transfers of people and goods from vessel to vessel or from vessel to offshore wind energy plant”. The system provides active compensation for ship movements.
The system consists of a robot installed at the bow, fitted with a transport basket with a maximum capacity of 250kg. The adjustable robot arm is intended to allow safe transfers of personnel onto wind farms and also onto larger vessels – even in rough seas with wave height up to 3.2m. Voith’s main contribution to the concept is the new Voith Inline Thruster, mounted in the bow, which combines with two VSP 18R5EC/150-1 Voith Schneider Propellers at the stern. The body of the Voith VSP, which is fitted with several axially parallel blades, rotates around its own vertical axle. Since this creates the same thrust in all directions, the VSP is claimed to be the only propulsion system that allows highly accurate manoeuvring, as well as active roll stabilisation to reduce the rolling motions of the vessel, even at zero speed. In combination with the Voith Inline Thruster, the VSP enables precise station keeping to DP standards.
The Voith Inline Thruster is described as a propeller drive, where a permanently excited electric motor acts as the housing. Thanks to its sea-water lubricated bearings, the drive is maintenance-free.
Voith says that it can see a growing market for this new ship concept. On average, offshore wind energy plants have to be accessed two to three times a year for maintenance work. The time slots during which service personnel can be safely transferred from feeder ships are often very short, due to the weather conditions and high seas. In the North Sea, for example, such transfers are only possible on an average 230 days per year. Using MOTS and dynamic positioning, Voith considers that the time slot can be extended by up to 35%, to around 310 days.
Apart from the six-man crew, the ship can hold up to 12 service technicians. Sufficient tank capacity will be provided for operation offshore for up to 14 days. The maximum sailing speed is 14 knots. A large deck surface offers room for four 10ft containers. An on-board crane on the stern deck is available for additional loading and unloading tasks.
Source: Motorship