Two hybrid CSOVs ordered for European waters

Its first step by the Windward Offshore consortium has been to order two diesel/battery hybrid commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs) that will be prepared to run on methanol.

Windward Offshore has been set up and is led by the engineering group SeaRenergy, which has offices facilities in Poland, Cyprus, Germany and the Netherlands.

Two more vessels could also be ordered at a later stage from shipbuilder Vard, which has been contracted to design and build the first two. They have been ordered for service world wide but will be focused in European waters, SeaRenergy Group CEO Benjamin Vordemfelde said.

The vessels have been ordered ”to establish a sturdy basis for its maritime asset services focusing on bolstering the burgeoning offshore wind industry”, SeaRenergy says.

“Windward Offshore will provide integrated offshore wind service solutions and the CSOVs will act as the centrepiece for servicing wind farms during the critical commissioning phase, encapsulating the consortium’s strategy of delivering integrated solutions through a combination of vessels, engineering, maintenance, and operation services,” it says.

Vordemfelde says the CSOVs are the first of a collection of offshore wind service vessels that should be in demand if European targets to install 30GW of offshore wind energy by 2030.

the Windward Offshore consortium also includes Blue Star Group, Diana Shipping Inc and SeraVerse.