Vessel Updates: New Tech Helping SOV Crews Operate Safely; Work Ramps Up on Clean Fuel, Hybrid Vessels
For those of us who are not seafarers, one scroll through #NorthSeaTok is enough to see just how scary the North Sea can be. For offshore energy vessels that are doing heavy construction and maintenance work, a new technology developed by the Dutch company NextOcean - Increasing Operational Windows promises to help operate in unpredictable sea conditions. Read more about this and catch up with other vessel news in our recap ??
Dutch company Next Ocean is looking at a global reach for its technology that predicts waves and vessel motions minutes beforehand. Following a period of demonstration deployments of WavePredictor and the first vessels using it commercially, Next Ocean says it is witnessing the technology becoming standard equipment onboard vessels working in offshore wind and other offshore energy industries.
Last year, the company revealed that its WavePredictor was commissioned on board a Boskalis multipurpose vessel specialised in subsea cable burial. The technology was also installed on several North Star service operations vessels (SOV), including the SOVs operating at the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the UK, the world’s largest offshore wind farm under construction.
We often get comments from crews using WavePredictor that they are not operating in the dark anymore. Rather than picking a moment at random, the WavePredictor shows what is the best timing for critical steps in the operation. This is what our technology provides – offshore energy vessel crews no longer have to operate blind”, Next Ocean’s CEO Karel Roozen said.
A consortium led by ArianeGroup, an industrial company handling liquid hydrogen (LH2) for space applications, has launched a new project to develop solutions for storing and using LH2 as an energy carrier for maritime transport. The solution will be integrated into a new zero-emission service operation vessel (SOV) for offshore wind farms.
The project named NAVHYS gathers eleven partners from a wide range of fields, including the space industry, shipbuilding, ship operations, and energy and safety, that will focus on developing and testing the below-deck LH2 storage and fuel system over the next three years.
The system will be integrated into an SOV designed by Vard for North Star, a shipping company that will define the operations scenario and confirm the operability of the proposed design in the NAVHYS project.
The developers will also seek to obtain approval in principle (AiP) from the classification society Bureau Veritas for this vessel design.
Ulstein Verft has launched the first of the two commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs) that Bernhard Schulte Offshore (BS Offshore) ordered in 2023.
The CSOV was launched on 23 February at the Ulstein Verft yard in Norway, following an outfitting phase that included the installation of electrical and mechanical systems, piping, accommodation, and system integration.
Bernhard Schulte Offshore?signed an agreement with Ulstein Verft for the design and construction of the two commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs) as well as options for four additional vessels.
Both CSOVs will be equipped with a hybrid battery propulsion system and prepared for green methanol fuel to enable carbon-neutral operations.?
Cochin Shipyard has started building a hybrid-electric service operations vessel (SOV) for North Star, which will operate at the He Dreiht offshore wind farm in Germany under a long-term charter North Star signed with EnBW last year.
North Star and Cochin Shipyard cut the first steel for the new SOV on 25 February at Cochin’s yard in India, where the planning, engineering design and construction work are being carried out.
The vessel is on schedule to commence a decade-long minimum charter to service the He Dreiht offshore wind farm from the end of 2026.
The SOV will provide accommodation for up to 34 wind technicians as they maintain the project’s 64 V236-15.0 MW wind turbines provided by Vestas. The vessel will also act as a logistics hub and warehouse.
Dutch SMST has been awarded a contract by the Spanish Armon Shipyards for the delivery of the Walk-2-Work (W2W) and lifting equipment to Bibby Marine’s electric commissioning service operation vessel (eCSOV).
Under the contract, the company will be responsible for the delivery of a gangway (Telescopic Access Bridge L1) with an automation package and a 10-tonne motion-compensated crane to the eCSOV.
“As vessel owners, we are pleased to collaborate with SMST once again. Their performance on WaveMaster Horizon has been excellent since delivery, and their support and reliable communication consistently dependable,” said Gavin Forward, new build project director at Bibby Marine.
At the beginning of this year, Bibby Marine signed a shipbuilding contract with Armon shipyard for the new eCSOV, which the company says is the world’s first truly zero-emission commissioning service vessel.
The Spanish Freire Shipyard has delivered a new maintenance support vessel, named Forth Constructor, to the UK-based Briggs Marine.
Briggs Marine placed the order for the vessel in December 2022 and Freire Shipyard launched Forth Constructor and moved it to a “wet berth” at its yard in Vigo in July 2024.
The vessel, designed by Cintranaval in collaboration with the Spanish shipyard’s design department, will support Briggs Marine’s contracts with the UK government, as well as offshore wind farms and commercial ports.
Jan De Nul will deploy its heavy-lift vessel Les Alizés for the monopile installation at the Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland.
The company was announced as one of the project suppliers at the beginning of this year as ESB and Red Rock Renewables reached financial close on the 1,080 MW Inch Cape project.
This spring, Les Alizés will be deployed to install 72 monopiles on RWE’s Thor offshore wind farm in Denmark under a long-term charter with RWE which, according to Jan De Nul, has taken steps to ensure the vessel could be made available to other developers during downtime between its own projects.
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21st Century Grassroots Energy Programs and Projects
2 天前The fossil fuel intests get increasingly scared as not only is there demand destruction of methane (natural gas), demand destruction of petroleum for shipping. Small wonder they’re getting Trump to suppress these 21st century technologies.
Senior Maritime Specialist at ?rsted
2 天前This sounds excellent. Could we have some numbers on the table. How much bigger does the weather window get?