Barge Master and Bosch Rexroth have jointly introduced a new motion compensated gangway to the offshore wind market. The first actually manufactured gangway is currently being tested onshore at the Bosch Rexroth facilities in Boxtel, the Netherlands. In the near future the gangway will be installed on the offshore support vessel VOS Start of fleet operator Vroon.
The gangway will be mounted on a pedestal which holds an integrated elevator, used to transport both people and pallet trolleys from ship deck and levels below, to the level of the gangway. The gangway consists of telescopic sections, so the length of the gangway can be adjusted to the situation offshore. This telescoping is performed by an hydraulic winch system. The gangway is equipped with fast sensors and control technology. Movements of the ship can be translated into ‘counter movements’ of the gangway within milliseconds. Because of this, the system is able to compensate for wave heights up to 3 meters (Hs).
Live demonstation of the motion compensated gangway