The look and performance of the new Sea Axe yacht support vessel launched by superyacht builder Amels betray her commercial north sea supply ship ancestry.
The 67 metre Sea Axe is the second of the range of large support vessels to be built by the family-owned Dutch Damen Shipyards the family-owned commercial ship building group that was established in 1927.
Amels is the groups superyacht construction division and acts as sales and marketing agents for the Sea Axe vessels
Despite her heritage the advanced support vessel’s grey hull and white superstructure really shine and are faired and painted to superyacht standard. In recent sea trials, she flawlessly ploughed her way through the North Sea reaching speeds over 22 knots
Due for delivery ahead of schedule in January 2014, and bearing the name 6711she has been configured with an extensive dive centre, including its own decompression chamber.
With 275 square metres in addition to her fully certified helipad there is plenty of room for her to act as a toy carrying shadow support vessel to her superyacht mother ship.
She also acts as a heliport for that mother ship. Her LY2 certified helipad, has a 5000 kg take-off weight, a D-value of 13.75 m, for day and night operations and has a fuelling capability of 9.6 m3.
Damen has already delivered three yacht support vessels and has another four under construction. There is an increasing number of superyacht owners who appreciate the benefits of a well-equipped support vessel customised to their particular requirements. This explains why the shipyard is developing even larger options up to 90 metres in length.
The 6711 build project was managed by in co-operation with Imperial, the Russian owned yacht management company which acted as the broker, Owner’s representative and construction project manager. Imperial’s technical team also made a substantial contribution to developing a state-of-the-art specification and additional outfitting.
Damen is now the largest shipyard in the Netherlands. With 40 shipyards throughout the world employing over 8,000 people in 35 countries. In 2012 the Group delivered over 150 vessels, and generated a turnover of €1.5 billion.
Specifications :
Builder & designer: Damen
Length overall: 67.15m
Beam overall: 11.5m
Gross Tonnage: 1143
Accommodation: 21 crew and staff
Range: 4500 nautical miles at 16 knots
Deck space: 275 m²
Dive area: 70 m²
Garage / workshop: 74 m²
Engines: 4x MTU 16V4000 (8960 kW total)
Speed: 22 knots