GAC UK Joins Beatrice Team

Seaway Heavy Lifting (SHL) has appointed GAC UK to provide shipping services support during the construction and installation of foundations, inter-array cables and offshore substations at the 588MW Beatrice offshore wind farm.

SHL, the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contractor, will design, supply and install the piled foundations, jacket substructures and inter-array cables for the 84-turbine Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL) project in the Outer Moray Firth, Scotland.

The company will also transport and install the offshore substations.

SHL has appointed GAC UK to provide a range of shipping, logistics and support solutions including ship agency and handling of vessels delivering materials and equipment for the construction work, with a location in the Cromarty Firth being used as a storage hub for grout deliveries to the offshore site.

GAC UK will also provide support for other vessels that will be involved in the project, such as crew transfer vessels, multi-cats and barges at all ports in the UK except Wick, as well as handle crew changes out of Aberdeen using a helicopter service, with Invergordon as a back-up.

The company will also arrange local towage services, and provide office and staff accommodation for SHL personnel working on the project.

Both SHL’s crane vessels will be deployed off Scotland, HLV Stanislav Yudin from April 2017 to April 2018, and HLV Oleg Strashnov from August to October 2017 and again from May to July 2018, GAC said.

Jeannette Shoebridge, GAC UK’s Renewables & Dry Bulk Manager, said: “As a Group, we have a long-standing relationship with SHL and their vessels, especially the ‘Stanislav Yudin’, which we have taken care of at Gwynt-y-Mor, Burbo Bank and Dudgeon windfarms previously. A 3D illustration of the ‘Stanislav Yudin’ even features in GAC’s advertising campaign!.”

GAC has previously worked on a number of offshore wind farm projects in the UK, including Walney 1 and 2, West of Duddon Sands, London Array, Gwynt-Y-Mor, Humber Gateway, Westermost Rough, Burbo Bank, and Dudgeon.

Beatrice is being developed by BOWL, a joint venture partnership between SSE (40%), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (35%) and Red Rock Power Ltd. (25%).

The wind farm is expected to be commissioned in 2019.