Support yachts are becoming increasingly popular with yacht owners. They are used to land helicopters for owners, guests and crew, transport to and from the mothership and for carrying jet skis, speedboats and other tenders. Thus, life on the super yacht is disrupted as little as possible. The Hodor also has a remotely operated underwater drone (ROV) for research purposes, a fully equipped dive center with a decompression tank, its own hospital and various off-road cars and motorbikes. The aft deck can accommodate five tender boats, including a 17-meter long chase boat, which are launched and retrieved through a special aft lifting platform. Also, there is enough accommodation on board for the 20 crew members.
The 66-meter long shadow boat supports a 87 meter long super yacht, which was commissioned last year by Feadship Royal Dutch Shipyards. Both ships have been in operation for several months now. The Hodor was built by the Spanish shipyard Astilleros Armón, at its Burela facility.
RH Marine personnel installed and commissioned the equipment supplied on site and accompanied the test runs. “For us it was the first time we have equipped a shadow boat with our systems,” says project leader Jos Geerdes. ,,RH Marine has also equipped the super yacht with a Rhodium bridge console. Because the owner wanted to have the same equipment on the Hodor allowing the crew to change shifts, the shipyard contacted RH Marine for that ship as well.”
For this project, RH Marine eventually supplied all navigation and communication equipment, including radar, autopilot-chart system ECDIS, GPS and weather station. All systems on board are checked via the RH Marine’s alarm and monitoring system (AMS). All systems, including the operation of the ROV, can be operated centrally via one screen in the bridge console. Its mechanical and electrical components have been engineered by sister company Bakker Sliedrecht.
RH Marine’s DP system also ensures that the yacht remains stable when guests arrive or depart, when the tender boats or other material is launched or retrieved on board or when the helicopter lands.