Albwardy Damen has received an award for its innovative design of the new Damen Multibuster 8020 shallow draught, multi-purpose vessel. The award was presented at the MASTECH international marine technical conference, held on board the iconic QE2 floating hotel in the UAE.
Albwardy Damen has been developing the Multibuster 8020 offshore workboat for the past two years in close consultation with a number of oil majors, operators and potential clients in the Gulf region. Over that time the size of the vessel has grown as clients have sought additional capability. While the Multibuster 8020 is 80 metres in length, making it the largest vessel to be built at Albwardy Damen Sharjah to date, it will also be available in 60 and 70 metre versions.
The award was based on a number of factors that make this vessel highly unusual. Its design draught of just 3.5 metres is exceptional for a vessel of this size and makes it ideal for the shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf as well as elsewhere in the world. It also stands out for having a deck strength between the stern roller and the anchor handling and tow winch, 800 m² in total, of 10 or even 20 tonnes per square metre as standard, in comparison to the usual 3 to 5 tonnes. The rationale for this is that it saves time and expense by making the deck ready to take any equipment or fulfil any operation without further modification, whether it be the installation of a walk-to-work gangway, a heavy crane or a 14-metre cable carousel.
And that’s not all. Albwardy Damen has taken the innovation a stage further by specifying a corresponding cofferdam below decks. This protection means that steel cutting and welding on the working deck above can be carried out without draining and or degassing the fuel tanks first – an operation that can take several days – and so further speeds up the mobilisation of new equipment. Special attention has also been given to the working deck sides. These are free of obstacles over the full deck length, resulting in maximum operational flexibility for the end-user.
The design offers spacious living and working interior spaces for 60 persons including SPS personal. The SPS personnel will find that the design offers a dedicated mission control room, a client office / meeting room and SPS day room. The design also has a gym with substantial head room, a prayer room, luggage store, a spacious changing room with adjacent laundry room, a ship’s office, multiple stores / linen stores, and a spacious multifunction mess room.
