Sanderson Maritime - News June 2011

Merseyside-based maritime business Sanderson Maritime has launched a joint venture with global marine services specialists Svitzer UK Limited, a subsidiary of the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, to provide a new concept in cost effective accommodation for the offshore renewable sector.

Seatel is a specially adapted North Sea barge with a 70 bedroom hotel module offering a comfortable, stable platform and high quality, floating accommodation at half the cost of current market alternatives.

It can be safely and securely anchored in a deep sea location, minimising the time wasted moving staff and maximising the man hours on site.

Seatel covers twenty five thousand square feet and has been designed to offer the space and feel of an equivalent land based motel. The actual vessel is a North Sea barge fixed to an offshore barge. It is totally self sufficient, with onboard generators, an infield maintenance workshop, storage facilities, restaurant, gym, lounges and social areas.

Most industry alternatives for this purpose are low-tech and moored onshore. This means that the staff onboard often have a lengthy trip to the actual work location at sea, which significantly reduces productivity.

Svitzer and Sanderson Maritime are uniquely placed to offer this new concept in offshore accommodation. Svitzer is a harbour, coastal, offshore and ocean towage specialist and provides crew boat and standby rescue services around the UK coastline. Sanderson Maritime, based in Southport is a long established global provider of specialist accommodation in shallow water and international barge transportation. Its sister company, brokerage specialists S C Chambers & Co Ltd, has been appointed exclusive brokers for Seatel.

Mark Malone, managing director of Svitzer says: “At the moment most wind farms transfer their staff from onshore facilities out to the work location by boat, which can be a four hour round trip or more.

“Seatel provides on site accommodation to maximise the number of productive man hours. Staff can be transferred by either helicopter or boat to the portable renewable work site. Seatel offers fully flexible, efficient comfortable accommodation and rest facilities which will provide significant advantages to overall project cost”.

Julian Sanderson, managing director of Sanderson Maritime adds: “This is a natural partnership, both companies offer specialist experience and highly trained expert staff. As the renewable sector develops so there is more and more demand for more tailored accommodation, but at the moment the price is prohibitive and too much time spent ferrying staff from one place to the other. With Seatel, we can offer an excellent solution at a great price.”

To find out more, visit www.seateloffshore.co.uk