Surfer Vessel (West Africa)

A surfer is the fast crew or personnel boat used to move workers in West African offshore oil fields, especially Nigeria and Angola, where heavy ocean swell breaks across river-mouth bars and shallow approaches. The name comes from working in that surf zone. These planing craft, often around 15 to 25 m, run crews between shore bases, terminals, and platforms; some operations transfer personnel by basket crane or swing rope at the platform rather than a fixed gangway. The surfer is the West African regional equivalent of the offshore fast crew boat.