First Made-in-France Crew Transfer Vessel Launches

Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and Tidal Transit have launched the first of the three crew transfer vessels (CTVs) dedicated to the operations and maintenance of the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm.

On Thursday, 28 April, the launch of the vessel was attended by representatives of the French shipyard OCEA, GE Renewable Energy, EDF Renouvelables, and Louis Dreyfus Armateurs.

In December 2020, GE Renewable Energy selected Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and Tidal Transit for two CTVs for the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm. Construction of the two vessels began in 2021 for a planned commissioning in summer 2022.

These are the first two CTVs to be entirely designed and built in France, Louis Dreyfus Armateurs said.

This order, along with the one of EDF Renewables, has enabled the structuring and development of an essential part of the French maritime sector dedicated to Marine Renewable Energies, the company said.

Two other industrial partnerships have been formed with French companies for the design and construction of these vessels. The design was carried out by MAURIC, a naval architecture firm based in Nantes, and the construction was carried out by the French shipyard OCEA, a company active in the design, construction and maintenance of aluminum vessels, whose production sites are based in France.

The CTVs will sail under the French flag and will transfer technicians and their equipment between the coast and the wind farm for the maintenance of the turbines. These vessels are equipped with batteries, which allow them to operate in hybrid mode, and are equipped with a foil to limit their fuel consumption and their environmental footprint.

With 80 GE Haliade 150-6MW wind turbines, the first of which was installed earlier this month, the Saint-Nazaire wind farm will have an installed capacity of 480 MW and will supply the equivalent of the consumption of 700,000 people.

Once commissioned later this year, Saint-Nazaire will become France’s first operating offshore wind farm.

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