Belgium’s Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen is taking delivery of its second Dauphin AS365 N3 at the end of the month.

The company which specialises in transporting ship pilots will operate the aircraft out of Ostend. Operations manager Jef DeKinder said: “We tested a number of helicopters including the S-76 and the Bell 430, but this is the only one capable of remaining in a hover on one engine.”

DeKinder explained that companies offering contracts out to tender will ask for aircraft able to make safe single engine hovers: “I think the N3 is the only helicopter in the world capable of doing this; most don’t have enough power.”

The aircraft which cost $5 million apiece are only viable investments if a company can rely on regular contracts, according to the Belgian. “If this was only doing vip missions or freight transport it would be impossible to survive. Our ship piloting clients pay for a 24-hour service, so we can then afford to provide a back-up for cases of unscheduled maintenance. In the meantime it can do vip flights covering most of Europe and still be back within the six hour call-out period,” he added.

The N3s will be used to hoist pilots onto ships in bad weather and have features such as floats and an electrical winch, which have apparently been incorporated into the helicopter’s design.

As well as this service, Noordzee Helicopters also offers vip transport out of Antwerp-Kiel Heliport with an EC-120B and medical operations with an MD900 Explorer out of Arras, France.