Page 49: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2021)

TECH FILES HEAVY LIFTERS

Photo: Vestdavit

It’s Battle Stations for Boat Handling

The reliability of davits used to launch rapid-response craft from a naval vessel can mean the difference between success and failure of a military or humanitarian mission.

he clock is ticking. Timing is critical. As is the treme sea state conditions if needed.” covert Nato mission in the dead of night to in- Navies use a variety of launch craft for a range of tasks, tercept suspected armed pirates en route to at- tasks that demand a high level of durability, reliability and

Ttack a UN humanitarian aid ship moored off regularity for davit systems, which can be used as many

Eritrea to supply refugees caught up in the Ethiopia crisis. as 12 times a day for launch and recovery of craft in the

Human lives, as well as valuable cargo and assets, are at case of ? shery inspections. Delivery of dependable boat- risk. While this is a hypothetical scenario, it re? ects real- handling systems requires these to meet both technical and life challenges for navies and coastguards in tackling such performance speci? cations that enable them to respond missions that are critically dependent on rapid deployment as expected in real-life situations. “The system has to de- of high-speed craft, as well as the functionality of technol- liver when you press the button, with highly motivated ogy used to launch such vessels. personnel and equipment all ready to go,” said Goodall,

Readiness is key and this necessitates the reliability and who served tours of duty in the South Atlantic, Paci? c and ef? ciency of davit systems to perform repetitive missions Persian Gulf where energy security was a priority, as well as at sea in a failsafe manner, as well as effective follow-up carried out patrols in British and Norwegian waters, dur- maintenance to ensure these systems continue to work ef- ing his eight years in the Royal Navy.

? ciently. Vestdavit has a long record in supplying davit systems, “The sea is a very dif? cult environment in which to con- having delivered more than 2000 such systems since 1965 duct military missions as one is up against a dual enemy: including recent reference deliveries on vessel newbuilds volatile marine conditions as well as the actual enemy,” for the U.S., French and Australian navies, as well as the said William Goodall, a former surface warfare of? cer in U.S. Coast Guard. the British Royal Navy and now area sales manager with Goodall points out that a pair of davits supplied for two

Bergen-based davit supplier Vestdavit. “It is therefore vital British naval warships, HMS Echo and HMS Enterprise, that a davit system is available for operations as and when in 1997 are “still going strong” even as upgrades are now required, that it functions correctly and has the widest pos- being considered for the vessels that have a design lifetime sible operational window so that it can be deployed in ex- of 25 to 30 years.

www.marinelink.com 49

MR #2 (34-49).indd 49 2/4/2021 10:05:05 AM