Floatel conversion for Tyne yard

A&P Tyne in the UK has been awarded the contract to carry out the conversion of a former ice breaking cargo vessel into a DP3 Floatel accommodation vessel carrying up to 399 persons. The contract has been awarded by the C&M Group of Aberdeen on behalf of the owners Silters. Some preparations have already taken place on the vessel in the USA and is due to be shipped to the Tyne on the heavy lift cargo vessel ?Fairstar Fjord?.

The project will require the fitting of some 1,400 tonnes of new accommodation block steel work, accommodation for 399 people which include all the necessary services to support the personnel to be carried. There will be a further 1,900 tonnes of steel work fabricated and fitted to form new decks and machinery spaces. Eight new generating sets will be fitted to power eight new thrusters giving the vessel full DP3 dynamic positioning capability. An interesting design feature is the fact that the vessel will be the first of her type to be fully Ice Classed and will be capable of operating in conditions of minus 40 deg Celsius.

The vessel (ex ?Paardeberg?) has been renamed ?Ice Maiden 1? and the contract will take 9 months to execute from the time of arrival at the yard and is worth in excess of £30 million.