First steel cut for IWS Fleet’s newest windfarm SOV

China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) has cut the first steel for a new service operation vessel (SOV) for IWS Fleet, the vessel operating subsidiary of Norwegian company Integrated Wind Solutions (IWS).

The Kongsberg-designed vessel will be named IWS Skywalker and will serve its first contract at the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the UK in the summer of 2023.

The vessel will have hybrid propulsion, a large battery pack with solar panels for charging, accommodations for 120 personnel, a fully integrated and compensated walk-to-work gangway, and a 3D compensated crane that can lift cargo fully compensated from the vessel deck to a fixed or floating wind turbine or perform subsea operations for the balance of plant scope.

IWS said the vessel is the first in a planned series of newbuild SOVs.