Sand Bank News

The U.S. Administration’s strategy to fast-track offshore wind development is exciting for overseas shipbuilders and service providers in the field. Joint ventures meeting Jones Act requirements will support accelerating development. Some question, however, whether ambitious 2030 targets can actually be achieved.Ulstein group is a front runner. The Norwegian-based company has already provided the design for a rock installation vessel now under construction for a joint venture between Houston-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD) and Netherlands based Van Oord.

Offshore accommodation company CBED has won a contract extension for its Wind Innovation service operations vessel Wind Innovation.Back in May, the company secured a contract for the vessel at the DanTysk and Sandbank offshore wind farms in the German North Sea.Now, the extension has been secured with the wind farm owner, a joint venture between Vattenfall Europe Windkraft GmbH and Stadtwerke München GmbH Vattenfall, securing full activity for the SOV, Wind Innovation, from Q1 to Q4 2023.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has proposed to construct an artificial island dedicated to large-scale production of green hydrogen from offshore wind – called "BrintØ" - in the Danish part of the North Sea. According to CIP, one of the world’s largest dedicated fund managers within greenfield renewable energy investments, the Hydrogen Island is expected to be able to produce one million tons of green hydrogen per year once fully built and will thus be "a crucial step…

Offshore accommodation company CBED has won a contract for its Wind Innovation vessel on the DanTysk and Sandbank offshore wind farms in the German North Sea."With the operations and maintenance service contract with DanTysk Sandbank Offshore Wind GmbH & Co. KG, a joint venture between Vattenfall Europe Windkraft GmbH and Stadtwerke München GmbH., CBED secures full activity until Q4 2022 for its walk-to-work service operation vessel, Wind Innovation," CBED said.Ahead of starting its German North Sea contract…

German renewable energy industry giant RWE, in partnership with Commercial Rib Charters (CRC), is building "a world-first" amphibious vessel for reaching offshore wind farms in shallow waters."The unique crew transfer vessel has initially been designed to reach turbines at Scroby Sands [wind farm in the UK ], which have become stranded by the natural rising tide of the sandbank on which it is built. The fully seaworthy vessel, which can also drive on land, provides a unique access solution for some of the industry’s first-generation assets affected by very dynamic seabed conditions…

Norwegian offshore vessel operator Island Offshore, mostly known for its offshore vessel services in the Norwegian oil and gas industry, has recently won a walk-to-work contract with Vattenfall in the offshore wind sector in Germany.Island Offshore said the contract was an important one and will see its vessel Island Diligence deployed at Vattenfall-operated DanTysk and Sandbank offshore wind farms in the German part of the North Sea.Island Diligence will provide accommodation and transfer of technicians via the vessel’s gangway solution, to the wind turbines.

A cargo ship master and chief engineer have been sentenced and fined after admitting to charges relating known engine problems that led to their ship to lose power and run aground at the Port of Tauranga in July.The Singapore-registered log-carrier MV Funing lost power and passed over a channel marker with the propeller becoming caught in the markerchain, before making contact with a sand bar in the Tauranga Harbor channel.A Maritime NZ investigation and subsequent prosecution…

The dredger Gypsey Race rescued a woman who'd fallen from Berwick Pier, UK yesterday (September 02) morning. She was in the water for 1 1/2 hrs before the dredger crew saved her life. Unfortunately their vessel grounded and they are now waiting for high water to refloat.The crew of the dredger, Gypsey Race, noticed the woman clinging to the wall at 8.30 this morning and made an immediate call to the Coastguard whilst going to her aid. The Coastguard requested the Berwick RNLI inshore and all weather lifeboats to launch and the Berwick Coastguard Rescue Team to attend.By the time that the lifeboats and coastguard team arrived on scene, the crew of the dredger had managed to rescue the woman from her predicament.

The newly built wind farm service vessel Windea Leibniz was delivered from Ulstein Verft to Bernhard Schulte Offshore and ICBC Leasing on February 28, and named March 2 at a ceremony in Ulsteinvik, Norway. Beginning in April, the vessel will work at the Sandbank wind farm in the German Bight for Siemens Wind Power Service to help ensure energy production from the site’s 72 wind turbines. Windea Leibniz is the second wind farm service vessel in a series for Hamburg based shipping company Bernhard Schulte and the Beijing based financial company ICBC Leasing…

Wind Turbine Installation Vessel MPI Adventure installed the first of 72 SWT-4.0-130 offshore wind turbines on the Sandbank offshore wind farm. MPI Adventure is capable of installing 6 of these complete offshore wind turbines per cycle. After MPI Adventure completed its contract to assist with the commissioning of the offshore substation on the Sandbank offshore wind farm, she has re-mobilized for the offshore wind turbine installation works. On July 28th, well in advance of its original schedule, the vessel now completed the installation of the first turbine. MPI was responsible for the design, engineering and manufacturing of the sea fastenings which will be used during the transportation and installation of all the above mentioned turbines.

Vroon subsidiary MPI Adventure has been contracted to assist with the commissioning works on the offshore substation of the Sandbank Offshore Wind Farm. MPI Adventure will provide accommodation services, lifting operations and provision of supplies.   The Sandbank Offshore Wind Farm is located approximately 90 kilometers west of the island of Sylt in the German Bight. It will consist of 72 4-megawatt turbines which will also be installed by MPI Adventure as of summer 2016.

The Danish container ship Susan Maersk has collided with the container ship Margret Oldendorff flying the Libyan flag. The 347 meter long, 110387 dwt container ship Susan Maersk and the 300 meter long, 208086 dwt bulk carrier Margret Oldendorff ran aground on the Suez Canal near the 94 kilometer mark. Both vessels were proceeding northbound in dense fog when both vessels grounded onto a sandbank. The Susan Maersk was undamaged, but the Margret Oldendorff was holed above the waterline. No reports of injuries or pollution on either vessel. Maersk, the largest shipping line in the world, said the vessel remained seaworthy and was waiting to be pulled off the bank at the time, however, that process was completed at the time of writing.

Jaguar Land Rover said on Tuesday it was awaiting word on the fate of 1,200 luxury vehicles aboard a 51,000-tonne car transporter ship that has run aground in the English Channel. Salvage experts are working around the clock to right the Hoegh Osaka, which has been stuck on a sandbank off the south coast of England since Saturday. Range Rovers and other Jaguar Land Rover models accounting for most of the 1,400 vehicles aboard are covered by insurance, said a spokesman for the British carmaker, owned by India's Tata Motors Ltd. "We're still evaluating what has happened," the spokesman said.

Traffic for large ships heading towards the Belgian port of Antwerp was temporarily blocked on Friday after a giant container ship ran aground outside the Dutch port of Terneuzen downstream from the Belgian harbour, emergency services said. Emergeny services for the Dutch province Zeeland said on their website the MSC Rachelle had run on to a sandbank on its way to Antwerp, though they later said it had been refloated. High tide was due at 1700 GMT and six tugs had been involved in the effort to refloat the vessel…

A combination of three Dutch offshore companies realized a unique operation in the North Sea, installing a giant ‘power socket’, the SylWin alpha platform. Siemens commissioned Seaway Heavy Lifting to perform an unusual operation that in turn called in the assistance of maritime service provider Dockwise and engineered heavy lifting and transport specialist Mammoet. Weighing 14,000 metric tons, the 83-meter long, 56-meter wide and 26-meter high SylWin alpha platform, built by Siemens, is the largest in its kind.

Power and automation technology group ABB has won a significant order from the Dutch-German transmission system operator TenneT to supply an AC (alternating current) power transmission link connecting Sandbank, an offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, to the HVDC (high-voltage direct current) converter station SylWin alpha. The link will have the capacity to transmit 288 megawatt (MW) of clean wind power – enough to supply energy to around 300,000 German households. Once the connection is commissioned the offshore wind farm will be able to save 1…

The 230m long, Panama-flagged bulk carrier 'Smart' with a full cargo of coal ran aground within a few hundred meters of South Africa's major coaling port of Richards Bay, and the crew (with pilot) were taken off by helicopter as the vessel's hull began to split apart in the heavy swell. Three Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) tug boats were in attendance of the outbound coal cargo ship 'Smart' on a shallow sand bank adjacent to the Port exit channel where they were attempting to pull the vessel free after she had grounded there in very rough seas and 10 meter high swells…

QinetiQ Maritime’s Paramarine software, a ship and submersible design tool, has released its latest version of software including a number of new capabilities. The new functionality in Paramarine V8, developed by QinetiQ GRC, is intended to further meet the needs of commercial ship designers and builders, whilst reinforcing its capabilities in the naval market. A major addition in the latest version of Paramarine is the introduction of probabilistic damage modeling and assessment, a requirement for all passenger and cargo vessels. Coupled with its innate parametric functionality and a flexible reporting system, Paramarine aims to deliver…

'Ciudad de Cadiz' blown off the berth to ground near Mostyn Harbour on the Salisbury Bank, River Dee in North Wales. The vessel had been berthed alongside in Mostyn Harbour when the mooring lines parted in 60 knot winds. She then drifted onto a sandbank. Another attempt to free the ship will be made at the next high tide. "We are closely monitoring the situation, but as there is no evidence of damage to the hull, the risk of pollution is very low," added Mr. Shaw.

According to a report from the Brisbane Times, a steering fault caused a container ship to run aground in Moreton Bay off Brisbane. The 217-metre MSC Basel was leaving the Port of Brisbane and ran aground on the Yule Bank, five kilometres north of Moreton Island, at about 9.30 a.m., Nov. 1. Two tug boats were being sent to help remove the Singapore-bound vessel, but it refloated with the rising tide about midday. (Source: Brisbane Times)

Ballast Nedam's heavy lift vessel Svanen left the port of Rotterdam last weekend. The Svanen has been commissioned by Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors to drive 56 steel piles for the foundations of the Belwind offshore wind farm off the coast of Zeebrugge (Belgium). This is the first phase of the Belwind project, which will eventually encompass a total of 110 wind turbines. Once the project is completed the 110 wind turbines will supply power to approximately 350,000 households, meaning a reduction of 540,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. The offshore wind farm is located on Bligh Bank, a sand bank 46 kilometres from the Belgian coast where the sea has a depth of 15 to 37 meters.

Netherlands-based towage and salvage specialist Multraship reported on Dec. 8 that it had successfully refloated the Stema Barge II after the 443 ft long vessel grounded in shallow water inbound to the Dutch port of Eemshaven with a cargo of rocks following the loss of its tow to the tug Hellas on November 16. After initial attempts by local tugs to refloat the barge had proved to be unsuccessful, Multraship was contracted on November 25 under a Lloyd’s Open Form 2000 agreement incorporating SCOPIC.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) surveyors from the Southampton Marine Office have completed a full inspection of the Queen Elizabeth 2 liner after its Nov. 11 grounding near the Brambles sand bank in the Solent, and they have given the all clear for the ship to continue on its final journey. At 05.30 on Nov. 11 the crew of the 70,000 gross tons ship reported to Solent Coastguard that they feared she may have run aground two nautical miles north west of Cowes whilst en route into Southampton.