DONG Energy Books Esvagt Castor for Hornsea One

DONG Energy has chosen Esvagt’s standby safety vessel Esvagt Castor to assist in establishing the 1.2GW Hornsea One offshore wind farm located off Grimsby in the UK part of North Sea.

Esvagt Castor will work as a standby and man overboard rescue vessel during the building of the offshore wind farm, which, once commissioned in 2020, will comprise up to 174 Siemens 7MW turbines installed some 120km off the Yorkshire coast.

“Activity levels in the offshore wind farm are expected to be high in the years to come while the wind farm is being established. We were chosen because of our ability to launch FRBs and rescue people in all weather conditions. The safety that we can guarantee was the deciding factor,” said Ib Hansen, Head of Commercial for Esvagt.

Esvagt Castor is the Danish operator’s second vessel to enter the UK offshore wind market, following the deployment of Esvagt Njord on the Dudgeon offshore wind project in September 2016.

Prior to securing a contract with DONG Energy, Esvagt Castor worked in the Norwegian oil and gas sector.

“Hornsea 1 is an example of how the competences we possess are in demand in both segments. The Esvagt Castor comes from oil and gas contracts in the Norwegian sector, and it is good to see that the same competences can also make a difference in offshore wind,” said Hansen.