News

Stapem Beluga, the first of two Incat Crowther designed 18-meter Aluminium Dive Support catamarans was recently launched in Port Elizabeth & landed safely in Angola.
Built under ABS survey by the Legacy Marine Group in Port Elizabeth, South Africa for French oil and gas services company Stapem Offshore, this vessel will operate off the Angolan coast.
The vessel design was fully customised to suit the client’s specific operational requirements and is equipped with a bow configuration specific to the landings on FPSO’s and Platforms for safe transfer of personnel. The vessel also has custom fitted NIBS fendering suited to the operational conditions.
Equipment fitted to the vessel includes a 3-man Unique Hydra Nitrox air dive system, complete with multiple video and two-way communication as well as data logging systems, onboard HP and LP air compressors, underwater welding facilities, Caviblaster underwater HP washer, full diesel engine driven hydraulics system for subsea tools and deck crane, twin aircon units and FP duty and standby diesel generators.
The vessel is also fitted with lighting to support night operations, including a FLIR camera system. The aft deck is configured to support diving operations and has full CCTV camera coverage. Dive ladders (4) and Davits (3) are also fitted to the aft deck.
The vessel is classed to ABS +A1 (E) HSC Coastal Craft +AMS and has a full array of safety and detection systems suitable for use in the offshore oil & gas industry.
Designed as a semi-planing catamaran hull, propelled by two MAN (560hp) inboard diesel engines coupled via ZF360 gearboxes to Hamilton HJ403 water jets with full MECS control giving it excellent manoeuvrability, an operational speed of 20 knots and a sprint speed of 23.5 knots. The efficiency, manaoevrability offered from water jet propulsion & the safety of having water jets on A dive vessel made Hamilton Jet the number one choice for boatbuilder & customer.
The vessel is designed to work alongside a “mothership” and is not required to provide crew accommodations. It’s primary mission objective is to serve as an effective dive work station from which dive operations can be carried out on a 24/7 basis by a team of 14 personnel in a safe and comfortable manner.
Stapem Beluga’s sister ship, Stapem Narval is currently under construction at Legacy Marine’s yard in Port Elizabeth RSA & will also be fitted with Twin HM403’s

T-Craft Stapem Beluga being launched with twin HM403’s

On Tuesday the 23^rd of January 2018 Seascape Marine attended the farewell party for the RMS St. Helena which left Cape Town on Wednesday, 24 January 2018 for a final round-trip journey of three weeks to the remote South Atlantic Island of St. Helena.

For 3 decades the RMS St. Helena was a lifeline to the outside world & during this time Seascape Marine’s Service dept. played a vital role as the preferred contractor for all maintenance, service & overhauling of her Mirrlees K6 Major MK3 Main engines and Ruston RK270 Generators.

Below photos are from her last Dry Dock and scheduled maintenance in Cape Town Harbour

This final Voyage ends a long and proud relationship between Seascape Marine Services & RMS St. Helena’s Ship Management and crew.

St Helena Island is now reachable by plane for the first time and another cargo ship will be commissioned to transport cargo about once a month to St Helena.

After being approached by Mike Giles in early 2016 to discuss propulsion for a new design the ‘Cape 31’, Seascape Marine Services jumped at the opportunity to be involved in this exciting project.

After various proposals and discussions, the decision was made to fit the Yanmar 2YM15 x SD25 sail. The 2YM15 power-to-weight ratio, relative ease of installation, compactness of the configuration as well as great fuel consumption were all contributing factors. In addition, a reverse sail drive installation (sail drive leg forward of the engine) was a non-negotiable in order to ensure the engine configuration & ancillaries did not hinder the Cape 31’s performance capabilities.

Fitted with a Gori 2 blade folding propeller (approved by Yanmar) the 2YM15 reaches its rated output of 3600RPM, ensuring the vessel can handle any situation comfortably. The Gori folding props also offer the least drag when under sail and racing conditions. The 2YM15 also meets the strict EU & US emission regulations making it suitable for any foreign buyers. Serviceability of the engine is easily overcome with the fact that the 2YM15 x SD25 has “one side” serviceability, even with the compactness of space around the engine installation. All engine installations are commissioned in the factory prior to launch, to ensure the installation meets Yanmar specifications & the Cape 31 factory’s strict requirements for the standard of quality. With 12 boats built and now a dedicated racing series for the design the Cape 31 is proving to be a very popular boat and Seascape Marine are proud to be a partner in this project.

More details about the Cape 31 can be found at www.cape31.co.za

Cape 31 Sailing. Image by Greg Beadle

Marking its return to the diesel outboards market, YANMAR MARINE INTERNATIONAL (YMI) has agreed exclusive distribution rights with German outboard manufacturer NEANDER Shark. YMI, whose headquarters are in the Netherlands, is to distribute NEANDER Shark outboards worldwide through its extensive network with access to more than 130 countries.

From 1985 until 2009 YANMAR manufactured three-cylinder diesel outboards rated at 27 and 36 hp, but ceased when EPA and EU RCD emissions regulations restricted their sales in key markets. “With the global economic downturn in full swing, YANMAR decided at that time not to invest in the outboard range even though it had been highly successful in many markets,” explains Floris Lettinga, YMI Global Sales Manager. “Now, however, with NEANDER Shark we can offer a highly competitive outboard product with outstanding engineering”.

The NEANDER Shark outboard develops 50 hp using a small 800 cm³ turbocharged, twin-cylinder diesel engine in aluminium with common-rail fuel injection and a unique dual counter-rotating crankshaft concept. “This means that the outboard is not only light, powerful, clean and fuel-efficient, it is also remarkably smooth in operation as the two crankshafts counterbalance each other and cancel out most of the vibration that a conventional inline two-cylinder diesel block could be expected to produce,” Floris Lettinga says. “Therefore the outboard can be easily, operated at the tiller as well as from the helm. The lack of vibrations and low noise level are remarkable,  improving operation comfort yet delivering impressive performance”.

The prime applications for the NEANDER Shark outboard will be in the commercial marine, offshore, military, fishing, rescue and charter-sector. It would also perfectly serve tender boat requirements on large yachts storing diesel fuel only.

Seascape Marine Services look forward to being able to offer and supply the D – Torque outboards units once they become available late 2017 to early 2018.

Seascape Marine Services together with Yanmar are proud partner sponsors of the UCT Sailing teams entry into the 2017 Cape 2 Rio.

The crew of 5 UCT students did a lot of hard work & campaigning for funds & donations in order to realise this dream and Seascape are proud to have been able to assist them in achieving this.

The crew of 5 are doing the crossing on Yacht Scatterling  – a 35ft Simons Monohull. Scatterling is powered by a Yanmar 2GM20 x KM2P gearbox (18Hp) fitted in 1996.

Seascape Marine wish the crew a safe & enjoyable race!

Their journey can be followed on this link to the tracker:

http://cape2rio2017.com/tracking/

Or via their facebook page “UCT to Rio powered by B&G”