Launching of ship “EDT Hercules” 

in La Naval from Sestao (Spain)

Ship type PSV for shipowner EDT from Cyprus

On  23th  July “La Naval” from  Sestao performed the launching of the ship “EDT Hercules” for the Cyprian group EDT  and her delivery will be made in the next spring, although previously she will be preceded by the one of her twin ship, presently  in the fitting-out quay.

The launching was normal although with the rare arrangement of being launched by the bow, due to the forms of the ship that are very fine at  the stern which would make it difficult her launching by this end as  is normally made.

Constructores Navales del Norte (CNN), owners  of  La Naval shipyard,  a  few months ago got the contract to finish the construction of two platforms support vessels  (type PSV), whose building in the Seville shipyard  had been interrupted due to the closing-up of that shipyard. Shipowner EDT is based on Cyprus and the engineering of these vessels  comes from the Finnish company Ulstein Design & Solutions, corresponding to the ship model PX105, oftenly  built lately and equipped with the named X-bow .

The first of both  ships  arrived at Sestao in a towed trip and a part of the second ship, today launched, was road transported in hull blocks. At this moment the first ship is in the fitting-out quay and her completion is foreseen within this year, whereas the second one will be delivered at the beginning of next year.

The basic particulars of these ships are the following:

(More details in La Naval WEB page here)

Hull

• Total length (m)                        88,80
• Length between p.p. (m)           82,00
• Breadth (m)                              19,00
• Depth (m)                                   8,00
• Draft (m)                                    6,60
• Deck cargo  ( tons)                   2.300
• Deadweight (t)                          4.540
• Crew                                             23
• Deck Crane:                 One of 2 tons

Machinery

• Main electric Generators: 4 of 1,580 Kw each
• Diesel engines : 4 of 1,665 Kw at  900 RPM, Wärtsila type 9L20
• Harbour electric Generators: 2 of 317 Kw at 1,800 RPM
• Diesel engines Cummings type QSM11-M7D (M)
• Emergency elec. Generator: 1 of 150 Kw
• Diesel engine Cummings type 6CTA8.3-D (M)

Propulsive equipment

• Main azimuthal thrusters: 2 of 2,500 Kw, Schottel make
• Bow tunnel thruster: 1 of 1,200 Kw, Brunvoll make
• Retractable bow thruster: 1 of 850 Kw, Brunvoll make
• Dynamic positioning  system DP2

These ships are of advanced design  with technical characteristics  very appreciated in the present marine technology at the marine platforms support service. Nevertheless what catch your eye at first is  the “rare” bow configuration,  called type X, very full, whose advantages with respect to a conventional bow are the following, according to its Finnish designer:

• greater speed in calm and rough waters due to its bigger length at the flotation and lesser entrance  angle.
• removal of hull flare at the bows, so eliminating slamming at fore bottom  
•  smaller accelerations in the pitching and heave movements  due to the distribution of the hull volumes at the bow and to the greater ship´s length
• smaller noises and vibrations at the fore body because the ship “takes the waves” with more smoothness
•  smaller sprays at the bow and nothing on the bridge.

I got this video during the launching from the opposite margin, in Axpe. The only sad aspect of the day was that we were looking  at the last launching in La Naval at present times but we all hope that the nowadays serious problems facing the shipyards in this country, will be solved, new ship contracts will follow, and we shall whitnes new launchings in Bilbao river.