Beiderbeck Designs reveals SOLAS-compliant limousine tender

Beiderbeck Designs has designed a limousine tender to comply with Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations.

There has reportedly been reluctance in the industry to include SOLAS lifeboats on a superyacht build in order to avoid a negative impact on styling and space, as traditionally they are brightly coloured vessels consuming large areas of deck space and adding weight to the yacht.

A crucial part of the Passenger Yacht Code – which has now been replaced by the Red Ensign Code (Part B) – allows naval architects to design vessels without SOLAS lifeboat provisions, offset against an improved survivability of the vessel itself by use of enhanced resistance to fire and flooding.

As larger superyachts will still require two SOLAS lifeboats, manufacturers have sought ways to create a lifeboat to satisfy requirements while also doubling as a practical tender for guest transportation and watersports purposes.

In keeping with this ethos, Beiderbeck Designs has designed a limousine tender to comply with SOLAS regulations that also acts as a comfortable tender for superyacht guests.

Contrasting the traditional lifeboat, Beiderbeck’s design boasts an exterior white structure and dark-tinted and hemispheric windows, exemplifying the new modern superyacht tender. Two units are currently under construction at Knierim Yachtbau shipyard in Kiel.

The modern tenders can fit into a more compact space at 11 metres in length, 3.25 metres in width and 2.4 metres in height. The smaller fit design is slender and stylish in appearance but is more practical for yacht designers – the typical installation height of a lifeboat and davit can be in excess of the typical between-deck height, therefore impacting more than one deck.

The Beiderbeck SOLAS certified tender has a range of 200 nautical miles and two Volvo Penta D4-300 engines and can accelerate it to a top speed of more than 30 knots, making it suitable for watersports activities.

GL Germanischer Lloyd certifies the stringent SOLAS safety compliance. In tender mode, it can carry 15 people on board and 38 in case of emergency. There are also plans in the works for larger yachts, with a 13-metre rescue tender capable of bringing 50 people to safety. This larger version will also be built at Knierim.

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