SMST has been awarded a contract to supply the first Service Operation Vessel (SOV) for the Chinese offshore wind market with its walk-to-work equipment.
Under the contract signed with the ZPMC shipyard, SMST will be responsible for the delivery of an Access & Cargo Tower with motion compensated gangway, also known as the Telescopic Access Bridge L-Series, for the new build SOV of Shanghai Electric Windpower Group.
“The integrated setup of the Access & Cargo Tower with elevator and telescopic motion compensated gangway secures continuous and stepless transfer of crew and cargo from vessel to offshore structure, also in severe weather conditions”, said SMST.
The Chinese shipowner will contract the SOV, which has accommodation for 100 POB, for the maintenance of offshore wind turbines in China’s Jiangsu and Fujian provinces.
In January, ZPMC and Ulstein Design & Solutions signed a ship design contract on two types of SOVs for Shanghai Electric Windpower Group.
The SOVs will have two different designs with Ulstein’s X-BOW and X-STERN features and accommodation for 60 POB and 100 POB respectively.
With a battery installed, the vessels will provide a greener footprint when servicing the renewable energy segment, according to Ulstein.