Ulstein develops new offshore wind installation vessels

The new FFIVs will help fill the increasing requirement for heavy lift installation vessels in the offshore wind industry.

“We are very pleased that Cyan recognises our added value and is placing their trust in us to realise their ambitions in offshore wind,” said Edwin van Leeuwen, managing director at Ulstein Design & Solutions.

“We predicted a lack of foundation installation vessels and as developments move fast, our R&D focus has been on future-oriented FIV designs to suit the exponential growth of offshore wind,” he added.

The new FFIVs will feature adequate deck space and crane capacity to meet developments in foundation design, including monopiles and jackets.

They will also have low emission capability, using a hybrid power system consisting of dual-fuel engines running on methanol, shore power and a battery energy storage system.

“With their strong track record in heavy lift vessel design and a good understanding of the market constraints and requirements, Ulstein is the preferred partner to design our new vessels,” said Torgeir E. Ramstad, Cyan’s managing director FFIV Division.

“Cyan Renewables will be a leading global vessel provider to offshore wind by partnering with Developers and EPCI and T&I contractors based on future-proof vessels in all categories.”

Ulstein reports it used a new method to develop the business case and ship design simultaneously. “With this Ulstein blended design method, we explored thousands of ship designs to find the most future-proof solutions,” explained Ko Stroo, product manager and lead naval architect in Ulstein Design & Solutions.

“Working with multiple future growth scenarios for offshore wind, allows us to support Cyan in finding the optimum business case and vessel design.”