Come 2014, this 220-foot (67.15-meter) Sea Axe Fast Yacht Support craft will be delivered by Damen Shipyards Group, Amels’ parent company. She’ll be outfitted as quite the support vessel for a yacht, as a floating dive center, yet have the paint job of a traditional megayacht. It underscores how the Sea Axe vessels can easily be outfitted one way or the other, and even have a bit of a presence in both worlds.
Amels, which markets and sells the Sea Axe line but does not build it in its own facilities, sealed the deal shortly after the Monaco Yacht Show. The new project has the same LOA and some of the same benefits as Garçon, a Sea Axe that debuted at the Monaco Yacht Show. For example, the profiles are similar, and the new Sea Axe will have a 4,500-nautical-mile range at 16 knots, powered by quadruple 16V4000 Series MTUs. The hull shape will also permit running at 18 to 25 knots in even snotty conditions as well.
The differences with the new Sea Axe come in the primary purpose, this being diving. Imagine 753 square feet (70 square meters) of space dedicated to dive bottles, compressors, and more. That’s more than adequate for crewmembers (up to 20 accommodated aboard) to set everything up for a variety of avid divers. When you additionally consider the helipad and “working deck,” a.k.a. tender and crane stowage area, the new Sea Axe’s expeditions may shape up to be quite the adventures. The helicopter pilot, for example, could fuel up the helicopter right onboard and then venture out with a dive expert to scout locations. The helipad, by the way, will be LY2 certified and reinforced for a medium-weight, intermediate size copter (think Eurocopter Dauphin or Agusta Grand). As for the working deck, at least one tender will be kept here, which could serve scouting or simply cruising purposes, too. Amels says the deck should accommodate a crane capable of lifting something akin to a J Craft Torpedo, which is 11 tons. At its maximum reach just exceeding 54 feet (16.6 meters), the crane can still hold up to 6.6 tons.
If that’s not enough space for you, consider this: The overall deck space, excluding the helipad, is 2,960 square feet (275 square meters).
With a beam of 37’7” (11.5 meters) and a garage/workshop occupying 796 square feet (74 square meters), the new Sea Axe is for a client of the yacht-management company Imperial. Imperial has represented traditional megayacht clients of Amels previously.
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