Offshore Vessel News Roundup | July 14 – Taiwanese wind installation vessel, SOV conversion in US and more
OFFSHORE WEEK
It’s all wind installation and support vessels for this week’s roundup as we cover deliveries to Taiwan, Japan, and the UK plus a refitting project on behalf of a US operator.
NYK crewboat to work for Siemens Gamesa
Hokuyo Kaiun, a vessel operating company under Japan’s the NYK Group, will soon commence operations of a newly acquired crewboat built for windfarm support duties.
Rera As will operate in support of Siemens Gamesa under a time-charter contract. Sweden’s the Northern Offshore Group (NOG), via subsidiary Northern Offshore Services, will provide technical and commercial support.
The crewboat measures 27.1 by nine metres and can accommodate 12 people. It is equipped with NOG’s patented high grip fender, which increases the frictional force when the vessel presses against a wind turbine tower, hence stabilising the vessel.
Rera As was built in Indonesia.
UK’s North Star welcomes second SOV in series
UK offshore services provider North Star has taken delivery of the second in a series of four service operation vessels (SOVs) built by Norwegian shipyard Vard.
Like its earlier sister Grampian Tyne, Grampian Derwent was designed by Vard Design and built at Vard’s Vung Tau facilities in Vietnam. It will be deployed at the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in UK waters, where it will perform operations and maintenance duties.
The DNV-classed SOV has an LOA of 79.9 metres, a moulded beam of 19 metres, a loaded draught of 5.6 metres, a depth of 7.4 metres, and accommodations for 21 crewmembers and 39 technicians and other personnel. The deck equipment meanwhile includes a tower with motion-compensated gangway, a 3D motion-compensated crane with a two-tonne lifting capacity, and two ancillary deck cranes with one- and two-tonne lifting capacities, respectively.
DEME to operate first wind installation vessel built in Taiwan
DEME recently expanded its offshore installation fleet with the acquisition of Green Jade, a newbuild vessel boasting a 4,000-tonne crane capacity and a cargo deck area of 8,200 square metres.
Built by Taiwan’s CSBC Corporation, the vessel will perform installation of offshore wind turbine components in Taiwanese waters. DEME said it is the first offshore installation vessel constructed in the country.
Green Jade will be operated by CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering (CDWE), a joint venture company formed by DEME and CSBC Corporation. The vessel has several contracts scheduled and will initially be deployed for the installation of jacket foundations at the 298MW Zhong Neng wind farm off the coast of Changhua County.
Hornbeck Offshore taps Florida shipbuilder for SOV conversion
Hornbeck Offshore Services has awarded a contract to Florida-based the Eastern Shipbuilding Group for the conversion of an existing offshore supply vessel (OSV) into a service operation vessel (SOV) to meet the growing demand of the US offshore wind market as well as to serve the demands of the petro-energy offshore accommodation market.
The OSV was designed in collaboration with Norway’s Vard, which originally designed the vessel. Once converted, the SOV will have capacity to accommodate up to 90 or more people in flotel or offshore wind service mode, with safe, stepless walk-to-work transfer capabilities in wave heights of up to 2.5 metres.
The SOV will be equipped with a motion-compensated offshore gangway, a 3D-compensated crane, a helicopter deck, an enclosed warehouse, and a stepless boat landing. Its existing diesel-electric propulsion system will be enhanced by a 1,500kWh battery hybrid power system, enabling reduced emissions during offshore operations and in harbour transits.
The SOV accommodations will be constructed to ABS Comfort Class habitability notation standards and will include a host of onboard amenities typical of a newbuild SOV.
The Jones Act-compliant vessel is scheduled to be available by the spring of 2025.
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