VESSEL REFIT | Norwind Breeze – Ex-platform supplier takes on windfarm servicing work

Newly-established Norwegian windfarm support specialists Norwind Offshore took delivery of its first vessel in May of this year.

Norwind Breeze was originally completed by Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam in 2015 as Skandi Responder, a platform supply vessel (PSV) owned by Vard Shipholding Singapore. The vessel was later renamed MMA Responder following its acquisition by MMA Offshore of Australia to serve clients in the oil and gas markets in Australia and Asia.

Under the Norwind Offshore banner, the PSV has been converted into a service operation vessel (SOV) focusing on providing maintenance support for offshore wind farms. Design work was done in compliance to DNV rules by local naval architects Vard Design in close cooperation with the owners while Vard carried out the actual conversion at its shipyard in Brattvaag, Norway.

Norwind Breeze has an LOA of 82 metres, a beam of 18 metres, a draught of 5.3 metres, and a gross tonnage 4,749. Significant modifications to the vessel include a larger and more modern accommodation block that can house up to 60 personnel and a battery system to help reduce emissions and a DP2 system from Kongsberg Maritime. A large motion-compensated gangway from Uptime International will be fitted on the aft deck to provide technicians with safer access to and from offshore platforms. A smaller gangway is meanwhile temporarily installed but will be replaced with the larger one once it is available this autumn.

The SOV also has a laundry room with equipment from Beha Hedo Industrier. Jets provided toilet facilities while Copra Drift supplied the HVAC system.

Furnishing of the interior spaces was done by R&M Ship Interior. Also fitted are furniture from ShipNor, water-proof doors from IMS Technologies, steel exterior doors from Libra-Plast, pipes from Tibnor, and valves from Brødrene Dahl.

The deck equipment includes a Certex anchor and chain. Lifeboats have been provided by Viking Life-Saving Equipment while Survitec supplied the SOV’s firefighting equipment.

Norwind Breeze was handed over by Vard to its new owners within just seven months of the awarding of the sale and conversion contract. The vessel’s first operational deployment will be in support of the activities of Danish offshore wind company Ørsted at Hornsea Two, one of the largest wind farm projects in the UK continental shelf.

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