‘Wind of Hope’ crashes into offshore wind turbine

The unfortunately named Wind of Hope SOV was damaged after crashing into a wind turbine in the middle of Hornsea 1, the largest offshore wind farm in the world until its sister, Hornsea 2, was built next to it.

None of the 26 crew or 46 technicians was injured in the accident, vessel owner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) said in a statement, and no water ingress reported.

“The accident, which occurred on the 19th of September at 18.38 hours local time in daylight, resulted in damage to the starboard side of the vessel above the waterline and the helideck,” the statement says. “There was also some damage to the base of the turbine.”

The vessel went to port for damage assessment, LDA said, and authorities have begun an investigation into the incident.

Wind of Hope is the second of two SOVs built at the Turkish shipyard Cemre for LDA. The 6,500t vessel has accommodation for 90 persons, so it was not at full capacity when the accident happened.

Wind turbine allisions are remarkably rare considering the rapidly growing number of them.

In May last year, Maritime Journal reported on a cargo ship colliding with one in the Gode wind farm, another Ørsted site, in the German North Sea.

Ulf Kaspera, director of the German Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation, said ‘time will tell’ whether such incidents become more frequent.

Earlier this year, Ørsted was awarded contracts for difference (CfD) by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) for a 1,080 MW share of the Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm, as well as a 2,400 MW CfD for Hornsea 4. The CfDs were awarded at inflation-indexed strike prices of £54.23 (€65) per MWh for the share of Hornsea 3 and £58.87 (€70.56) per MWh for Hornsea 4.