UAE Business: Damen’s Fast Crew Supplier FCS 7011 completes sea trials – Gulf Digital News

UAE Business: Damen’s Fast Crew Supplier FCS 7011 completes sea trials – Gulf Digital News

After five years of market consultation, research, design, engineering and construction, the first of Damen’s ground-breaking Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 7011 class has completed its sea trials off the Turkish coast. The FCS is set to begin the passage to the Netherlands. 

 

The offshore energy market and prospective customers will soon be able to experience the comfort and capabilities of the 74-metre, 40 knot, 122-passenger, crew change vessel, a release said.

 

The FCS 7011, in combination with the latest Ampelmann walk-to-work system, represents the very latest in marine access thinking, having been developed in consultation with the offshore energy industry and leading maritime research institutes. 

 

Its goal is to meet the challenges presented by the unpredictability of the price of oil and increasingly competitive renewable energy. As a cost-effective crew transportation solution featuring the highest levels of both comfort and safety, it offers a viable alternative to helicopter transport and has already gained substantial interest from clients in the southern North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and West Africa.

 

The business case is based on its ability to transfer much larger numbers of personnel for longer distances at higher speeds. This opens the door to moving away from day-rate structures towards a pay