BMT Nigel Gee, a subsidiary of the BMT Group, is pleased to announce the delivery of the last of its 13m superyacht ‘lifeboat tenders’ having successfully completed sea trials and secured SOLAS certification. Constructed by Southampton Yacht Services (SYS) this ground breaking vessel incorporates the full luxury of a lavishly appointed high speed super yacht tender together with full SOLAS recognition as a lifeboat for up to 51 passengers.
BMT Nigel Gee’s 13m SOLAS superyacht lifeboat tenders.
BMT Nigel Gee provided the complete engineering design package for the vessel including the naval architecture, model testing, structural, mechanical and outfit design including full detailed production level design. Styling of the tender was carried out by Patrick Banfield of Allseas Design Ltd.
John Bonafoux, Managing Director of BMT Nigel Gee, commented: “The design of this vessel presented some unique challenges, particularly with regard to the structure. With the need to reduce the structural weight of the vessel and work within a predefined all up weight to limit davit and hook loads, the main challenges arose from the loads imposed by the certification requirements which included swing-slam and drop tests. We designed a state of the art advanced composite structure that was engineered to deform under these tests and absorb as much of the energy as possible.”
Additional challenges that were faced included incorporating SOLAS safety requirements within an aesthetically acceptable design. Where exact SOLAS requirements could not be met BMT Nigel Gee and SYS worked closely with Lloyds Register to establish equivalent levels of safety.
