MAY 5, 2016 — U.K. headquartered ABS Group Ltd. has received a contract to provide project certification services from DONG Energy Wind Power A/S (DONG Energy) for the planned Hornsea Offshore Wind
MAY 3, 2016 — Wind power could play a role as a power source in offshore oil and gas operations. For the past year, participants from both the renewable and oil and
APRIL 28, 2016 — Norway’s Ulstein Verft shipyard has launched its first offshore wind services vessel. It is also the first vessel to feature Ulstein’s newly-developed X-Stern hull line design. The service
APRIL 14, 2016 – Classification society Bureau Veritas has given Approval in Principle (AIP) to the WindFloat Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) foundation. Designed by Principle Power, Inc., WindFloat consists of a
FEBRUARY 23, 2016 — Gibraltar shipyard Gibdock has completed the afloat mobilization of Seajacks Scylla, the largest wind farm installation jack-up ever built. Following delivery to Great Yarmouth, U.K., headquartered Seajacks by
Situated 50 km off the Belgian coast the Nobelwind project, together with the existing Belwind 1 project, will require a purpose built service operation vessel (SOV) to support the technicians working in the wind park.
Norway’s Havyard Design & Solutions has been commissioned to design the vessel and supply an equipment to the shipbuilder, Turkey’s Cemre Shipyard. which is set to deliver the vessel in the second half of 2017.
The vessel’s Havyard 831 SOV design is based on a ship and service concept, developed by Esvagt in synergy with MHI Vestas & Havyard Design, that draws on several years of experience in servicing wind farms further offshore.
For the past five years, Esvagt has provided the base for MHI Vestas Offshore Wind technicians servicing the 165 MW Belwind 1 project, and the new contract continues that partnership.
The new purpose build SOV will be 58.5 m in length, with a beam of 16.6 m and will be able to support up to 22 technicians in single cabins. It will be equipped with Esvagt’s unique safe transfer boats (Esvagt STB) to transfer technicians, tools and spare parts to the turbines.
“The market for big service vessels for offshore windfarms is a relatively new one, and, in cooperation with Esvagt, we have entered this market at an early stage,” says Gisle Vinjevoll Thrane, Senior VP Sales, Havyard Design & Solutions. “The windmills used to be serviced by small, fast-moving boats that transported personnel and equipment daily to and from the shore. More and more wind farms are now serviced by bigger ships where the service personnel work and live on board for prolonged periods and access the windmills by means of a gangway installed on the mother ship or small boats launched from the mother ship. This is a safer and more profitable way of servicing the wind farms, particularly those far offshore.”
“The Havyard 831 SOV was developed to fill a new niche in this market, namely smaller wind farms,” says Mr. Thrane. “The new design is smaller than the ships built so far. It is compact and efficient, but at the same time has ample capacity to transport service personnel and equipment. This design will make it profitable to service even smaller wind farms, and we see a potential to deliver many designs to this segment.”
The Havyard 831 SOV has a spacious and comfortable interior with sufficient capacity to accommodate wind farm service personnel in addition to the ship’s own crew. It has also been designed with good storage capacity for equipment and tools below deck and for containers on deck.
The ship is equipped with three small boats that can be launched to transport service personnel to the windmills.
The diesel-electric propulsion system ensures economical and environmentally friendly operation, both in transit and when the ship is in position at the wind farms. The hull has been designed to ensure low fuel consumption and to move in a way that ensures maximum comfort for the crew and service personnel on board.
The ship has sufficient fuel capacity etc. for at least 30 days’ operation between port calls.
Havyard has a long relationship with Cemre Shipyard. The Turkish yard has delivered the hulls for more than 30 of the newbuilds Havyard has delivered since 2005. In recent years, the shipyard has also delivered completed newbuilds for Norwegian and other customers, including cargo vessels, fishing vessels and seismic support vessels.Havyard says that the close cooperation built with Cemre through the hull deliveries will continue and develop now that the yard is to build its first Havyard design vessel.
Built for Great Yarmouth, U.K., based Seajacks International, the jack-up vessel is based on the Gusto MSC NG14000X design and has more than 8,000 metric tons of available variable deck load. Equipped with a 1,540-metric-ton Huisman leg-encircling crane and a usable deck space in excess of 5,000 sq m the unit is outfitted with 105-m legs with the ability to install components in water depths to 65 m in North Sea conditions.
The rig is capable of meeting the installation needs of jumbo-monopiles, jackets, and turbines of future wind farms in deeper waters farther from shore.
“Industry growth depends on innovation and new designs,” says ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. “As a technology leader, ABS is pleased to work with Seajacks as it develops and launches vessels with increasingly greater capabilities.”
Seajacks CEO Blair Ainslie credits the strong working relationship among the project participants for the successful delivery of this unit.
“The cooperation among Seajacks, ABS and SHI was vital to the success of this newbuild effort,” he says. “As we bring new designs to the market, we rely on partners who are willing to take on projects like this one that break new ground in the industry.”
Since 2009, Seajacks has invested in five self-propelled jackup units, all of which have been classed by ABS. The Seajacks Scylla is a milestone for the company as it is considered to be the most technically advanced installation vessel in the market.
The Seajacks Scylla complies with ABS classification requirements for self-propelled jack-up units, including DPS-2 for dynamic positioning capability; ACCU, which applies to automatic centralized control unmanned units; and CRC for crane register certificate.
In early December, Seajacks Scylla will begin her journey from South Korea to Europe on-board the heavy load carrier vessel, HLV Osprey, and is expected to arrive in Rotterdam around the end of January. Seajacks operations teams will then prepare the vessel for her first project next spring.
A growing number of laid-up OSVs and sweeping job cuts in Norway’s offshore sector present major challenges to the owners and operators of some of the most sophisticated offshore vessels in the world. Numbers change on a regular basis but, by mid-October, about 70 offshore vessels of various types were laid up, and more would be idle in the coming days, analysts predicted.
The Norwegian economy is, of course, heavily dependent on offshore energy but in good times, the country has been prudent with proceeds. Its sovereign wealth fund is the largest in the world. And the Norwegians are used to riding the peaks and troughs of energy prices with pragmatism. Adjusting to downturns is painful in the short run, but part of life.
Norway’s west coast offshore cluster, located around Aalesund and Fosnavåg, is home to a bunch of blue-chip names involved in every stage of servicing North Sea energy companies. According to Per Erik Dalen, Chief Executive of Campus Aalesund—an educational hub at the center of the cluster—the region is home to no fewer than 13 ship design firms, 20 ship operators and 169 equipment suppliers.
Vessels currently under construction include a deep-sea mining vessel for De Beers at Kleven Shipyard in Ulsteinvik and what ABB claims to be the most sophisticated cable layer, also contracted at Kleven, for high-voltage cable installation. Across the bay, ship design and offshore builder Ulstein has just launched the design for a new multi-function vessel specifically targeting energy firms seeking to cut CAPEX and OPEX.
The company’s S182, a shallow vessel aimed at the South East Asia, Middle East and African markets, is designed as a platform which can be adapted for a range of offshore functions including cable laying, construction, shallow-water installation, pipe- and cable-laying and dive support. Without mission equipment, the vessel is likely to cost about $45 million, less than 40% of the company’s high-end HX102 unit designed for deep water and harsh conditions.
Meanwhile, Island Offshore – another company within the cluster partly owned by Edison Chouest – lifted subjects on a contract with Kawasaki Heavy Industries earlier this year to build a Rolls-Royce-designed combined well intervention and top-hole drilling vessel capable of a range of subsea and well functions. The UT 777 vessel has DP3, ice-class and the highest level of comfort notation.
Some might question the decision to go ahead on such a vessel at this time, but Managing Director Håvard Ulstein is confident that the decision to proceed, despite the current market, is the right one.
“This vessel will be a significant contributor to our service range and to Island Offshore as a company. We have great confidence in this project,” he says. Delivery is scheduled for 2018 or 2019 by which time many analysts believe oil prices will have rebounded.
At a recent workboat conference in Abu Dhabi, Synergy Offshore’s Chief Executive Fazel Fazelbhoy went so far as to predict oil prices could bounce back far sooner than expected, perhaps even hitting $200 a barrel within the next two years. He proposed a number of arguments, including the fact that today’s 1.5 million b/d crude surplus could easily be offset by depletion rates and cutbacks in E&P spending much sooner than expected.
Campus Aalesund’s Dalen is more cautious but nevertheless positive about the outlook, pointing out that the downturn has had little impact on innovation. The offshore energy sector may be having a tough time at the moment, he concedes, but in a longer timeframe, about 70% of the earth’s surface is ocean, 80% of it is more than 800 meters deep, and roughly nine-tenths remains unexplored.
He concedes that low oil prices are having a greater impact on the North Sea and other regions of relatively high-cost production than, say, the shallow and benign waters of the Arabian Gulf. But when oil prices rebound—whenever that may be—tomorrow’s oil and gas lies in regions characterised by the “four d’s” – deep, distant, difficult and dangerous. Norwegian expertise will be in constant demand.
Bucking the trend
Coming from two separate fishing families, life partners Rita Christina Sævik and Espen Ervik, have developed a unique business model in sharp contrast to those of offshore vessel operators nearby in Fosnavåg on Norway’s west coast. The small tight-knit community in and around the coastal town was traditionally reliant on fishing but has become a centre for offshore innovation focused on the harsh environment of the North Sea.
Today, Aalesund, Fosnavåg and Ulsteinvik are key centres at the heart of the country’s west coast offshore cluster. The cluster includes OSV heavyweights such as Bourbon Offshore, Farstad, Havila, Olympic Shipping, Rem Offshore, Remøy Shipping and Solstad.
But the collapse in oil prices is having a dire impact on many companies’ operations. Although they believe the downturn is temporary, it means laying up boats and laying off seafarers. This is a major challenge in such an offshore-oriented community.
While more OSVs head for lay-up, however, Rita and Espen’s business is thriving. Their antecedents were fishing folk, and both had fishing in their blood. When Rita became MD of her father’s company, Kings Cross AS, in 2005, the pair put their heads together to develop a new business.
Eighteen months later, Ervik & Sævik was set up and work began on the design of an up-to-the-minute fishing vessel capable of working all year round, despite increasingly restrictive fishing quotas. Thus the Christina E took shape.
She is a fishing vessel with a unique selling point. When she’s not landing catches of blue whiting, capelin, herring and mackerel from some of the world’s roughest seas during about five months of the year, the dynamically positioned vessel is deployed on sophisticated offshore operations including seismic work, subsea installation and ROV surveys.
Designed by Vik & Sandvik, with input from SINTEF, equipment supplier MMC and Norwegian state energy firm Statoil, the Christina E was built in Denmark with support from Norway’s NOx Fund. The vessel incorporates latest fishing technologies which enable large volumes of fish to be caught and kept in optimal conditions on board to get the highest prices at auction.
October was the middle of the mackerel fishing season. “We are happy with the prices and the feedback from buyers is very positive regarding quality,” says Rita. But she explains that the ship’s economics would not stack up without working in the offshore sector for up to seven months each year.
Statoil is a repeat charterer, having taken the Christina E on hire in both 2012 and 2013, and for 19 days so far this year. For the rest of the offshore season this year, the vessel has been working for ORG Geophysical as she did exclusively in 2014.
So how do Fosnavåg’s OSV owners view the Ervik & Sævik operation?
“Fosnavåg is a little place and everybody knows each other,” Rita explains. “We have very good contact and a strong marine sector. Since we are a little company compared to the others, I don’t think they see me as a competitor.”
With a strong fishing heritage, it is no surprise that Rita and Espen are diligent about working conditions. Tommy Nielsen, for example, is one of two chefs head-hunted by Rita from fine restaurants. Nielsen himself is a chef and a sommelier.
“Usually, those who cook on board are called stewards,” says Rita. “We are proud to call them chefs.”
Fine food and good living conditions are popular with charterers’ personnel. “All the charterers are very satisfied with the ship and the crew. We have ROV people who have been on board five times and charterers like Statoil and ORG Geophysical take the ship several times,” Rita comments.
So will the Christina E have a sister?
“Our plan is to develop the company in either offshore (another ship) or in fishery (buy more quotas),” Rita explains. “This will depend on how the market develops. Do not say never about something!”
Change is in the air
In the current challenging offshore oil and gas sector, offshore support vessel owners are looking for every opportunity to keep their vessels working, even if it means converting them for other markets.
A good example is the Platform Supply Vessel Vestland Cygnus, which is poised to find a new life in the offshore wind market. Delivered this past April by the Fjellstrand Shipyard in Norway, the Vestland Cygnus went to work on a time charter to Apache North Sea Ltd. for a firm 60 days, followed by 30 optional days for work in the U.K. sector of the North Sea.
Now, Norway’s Vestland Offshore says the Fjellstrand AS has been awarded a contract worth around NOK 150 million (about $18 million) to convert the Vestland Cygnus into a wind farm support vessel.
The PSV will be fitted with a 134-person accommodations module, a 100 tonne/40 m offshore crane and a new walkway system for boarding of wind turbines. Additionally 1.2 m sponsons will be added on either side of the vessel.
The converted vessel will have SPS (special purpose ship) class notation.
The design for the conversion is being supplied by Wärtsilä, which provided the original design for the vessel and also supplied a complete electric propulsion system based on the Wärtsilä Low Loss concept with four Wärtsilä 20 engines, as well as an integrated automation system.
“We have developed several concepts for wind farm service vessels, both for newbuilds and conversion projects, and our design is very suitable for this vessel’s new operational profile. We have also worked closely with the Fjellstrand yard for many years on numerous projects and the cooperation between our companies is excellent,” says Ove Wilhelmsen, Managing Director, Wärtsilä Ship Design, Norway.
“The new design will enable the transportation and accommodation of a high number of people. It is important that the vessel has very good stability, even in the most challenging sea and weather conditions, so that personnel can safely board rigs or wind mills. We are confident that the Wärtsilä design meets all our requirements,” says Hans Martin Gravdal, owner of Vestland Cygnus.
Following completion of the rebuild project by the shipyard, the Vestland Cygnus will transport service personnel to and from wind farms.
The conversion will be completed by June 2016.
The vessel, the Vestland Cygnus, will be given a 134 person accommodations module, a 100 t/40 m offshore crane and a new walkway system for boarding of wind turbines. Additionally 1.2 m sponsons will be added on either side of the vessel.
The converted vessel will have SPS (special purpose ship) class notation.
The design for the conversion is being provided by Wärtsilä, which provided the original design for the vessel and also supplied a complete electric propulsion system based on the Wärtsilä Low Loss concept with four Wärtsilä 20 engines, as well as an integrated automation system.
Following completion of the rebuild project by the shipyard, the Vestland Cygnus will transport service personnel to and from wind farms. It will be operated by Vestland Offshore, a Norway based offshore service vessel operator.
The conversion is scheduled to be completed by June 2016.
“We have developed several concepts for wind farm service vessels, both for newbuilds and conversion projects, and our design is very suitable for this vessel’s new operational profile. We have also worked closely with the Fjellstrand yard for many years on numerous projects and the cooperation between our companies is excellent,” says Ove Wilhelmsen, Managing Director, Wärtsilä Ship Design, Norway.
“The new design will enable the transportation and accommodation of a high number of people. It is important that the vessel has very good stability, even in the most challenging sea and weather conditions, so that personnel can safely board rigs or wind mills. We are confident that the Wärtsilä design meets all our requirements,” says Hans Martin Gravdal, owner of Vestland Cygnus.
JULY 19, 2015—Work is well underway at Blount Boats in Warren, RI, on what will be the first U.S.-flag vessel built for the U.S. offshore wind farm market. The 21-meter-long aluminum catamaran
