New Danish Shipping Company Focuses on Offshore Wind Farms

A new shipping company in the port of Esbjerg has directed a determined glance to solving the large and increasing need for transportation of personnel, spare parts and other goods for offshore wind farms.

“We see that there already is a market and that there naturally is room for a shipping company which focuses 100% on the special needs of knowhow and vessels to handle the task,” World Marine Offshore’s managing director, Peter Lykke Kjeldsen says.

Esbjerg is a natural choice

The choice of Esbjerg as a base for the company was easy to make. “Esbjerg is the Energy Metropolis of Denmark with lots of competences and companies within all branches of the energy sector,” Peter Lykke Kjeldsen explains. “It means that we are given a lot as the town and port are already known and recognised in the offshore industry.” The managing director also emphasises that Esbjerg has good conditions to provide labour force at the same time as the company’s new vessels are delivered and the activity level rises.

The location in Esbjerg does not at all preclude that World Marine Offshore will bid for tasks all over the world: ”the challenges are the same and our competences can compete with anyone”, Peter Lykke Kjeldsen explains.” And the long distance to the tasks is not that important, because we will typically enter into long-term agreements with our customers.”

Norwegian special vessels with exceptional capacities in rough sea

World Marine Offshore has just signed the purchase agreement for a total of six specially manufactured vessels which will be delivered from March 2013. It is Crew Transfer Vessels from the Norwegian shipyard Fjellstrand. The vessels are extremely seaworthy due to a well thought out trimaran hull which combined with the latest SWATH (Small Water Plane Area Twin Hole) give stable and calm working conditions at sea and by transfers to and from the turbine – even in rough seas.

The shipping company has ordered four vessels of the type Windserver 24m with room for 12 passengers and two Windserver 30m’s with room for 24 passengers. Both vessels have a large front deck meaning that they can be used for transportation of containers and for diving-/survey tasks.

Some of the other advantages of the vessels are that they are equipped with four main engines, which provide very high operational reliability and at the same time good fuel economy.

40 % more working days at the wind farms

Not only World Marine Offshore has discovered the qualities of the Windserver vessels. Among almost 500 types of vessels only a few have been awarded a prize by the British Carbon Trust, including Windserver. The reason is not least that the ship’s ability to work safely in high waves gives 40% more days in which it is possible to transfer personnel and goods to the offshore wind turbines.

”Naturally, it is a security to know that we are not the only ones who have discovered the qualities of the new vessels. And of course we look very much forward to commissioning the vessels in about 9 months”, Peter Lykke Kjeldsen says.

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Offshore WIND staff, June 14, 2012; Image: wm-offshore