Borkum News

North Star has secured a contract with energy utility giant EnBW to deliver a new hybrid-electric service operations vessel (SOV) on a decade-long minimum charter to service the He Dreiht wind farm off the coast of Germany.The agreement marks the company’s first offshore wind move outside the UK market, a milestone mark in its ambitious European growth strategy to add 40 new SOVs to its fleet by 2040.The newbuild is of VARD 407 design which has been tailored to meet EnBW’s specific…

Belgium-based offshore installation contractor Jan De Nul has signed the export cable contract with Ørsted for its 2.9 GW Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm in the U.K.Jan De Nul will be responsible for the seabed preparation, transport, installation and protection of 350 km of DC export cables connecting the wind farm to the U.K. electricity grid.For the installation and protection of the DC export cables, the company is going to deploy several vessels.Cable-laying vessels Isaac Newton and Connector will transport and install the cables…

Vattenfall and BASF are in advanced and exclusive discussions to partner on the Nordlicht 1 and 2 projects through a sale of 49 percent of the project shares to BASF. Both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formally express their joint ambition. The Nordlicht wind park zone is located 85 km north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea and consists of two separate sites: Nordlicht 1 with a capacity of 980 MW and Nordlicht 2 with 630 MW. Vattenfall develops and constructs the Nordlicht sites.

Three new Incat Crowther-designed fast ferries have been delivered to serve the residents of Germany’s North Sea Island communities, who are set to receive a new commuter ferry service to the mainland.The new ferries will service three busy routes between the North Frisian Islands and Neuharlingersiel, located on the north coast of Germany’s mainland.The three vessels, named WattnExpress, Inselexpress I and Watt Sprinter, have been constructed by Singapore-based Penguin Shipyard International.According to Incat Crowther…

German ferry operator Aktien-Gesellschaft EMS (“AG EMS”) has partnered with Hogia Ferry Systems to implement their standard reservation software BOOKIT.AG EMS operates a ferry service between Emden and the island Borkum, using both traditional and high-speed ferries. The company will also use BOOKIT for its river cruises and excursions.“We had reached the end of opportunities with our current system, and we needed a modern and reliable standard ferry reservation and check-in system to replace it," said Stefan Beekhuis, CIO, AG EMS.

Wagenborg Towage confirmed Monday that Jan De Nul had awarded it a contract for transporting 107 monopile foundations for Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farms in Germany to Eemshaven. Assisted by the tug ‘waterlines’, the first transports arrived in Eemshaven under agency of Wagenborg.In the upcoming months, Wagenborg will perform another 35 voyages with monopiles from Germany and Denmark to the temporary storage in Eemshaven using a specially equipped pontoon…

Offshore installation company Jan De Nul said Thursday that Les Alizés, its next-generation heavy lift vessel, had sailed away from the CMHI Haimen Shipyard in China and is currently heading for Europe.The vessel was delivered by the shipyard on January 16 and departed Thursday.Les Alizés is designed for loading, transporting, lifting, and installing offshore wind turbine foundations. The main features are a main crane of 5,000 tons, a deck loading capacity of 61,000 tons, and a deck space of 9…

Dutch marine services firm Van Oord has, via its offshore wind subsidiary Van Oord Offshore Wind,  awarded Eidesvik Offshore a five-year contract for its Subsea Viking multi-purpose support vessel.The contract, of an undisclosed value, will start in the first quarter of 2023, Norway-based offshore vessel owner Eidesvik Offshore said. Van Oord will also have further extension options and, "on certain" terms, a call option for the vessel after the firm period. The contract comes…

Cadeler A/S signed a contract with Vestas for the EnBW’s He Dreiht offshore windfarm project to provide the installation and transportation of 64 15 MW Vestas turbines (WTGs).The WTG installation is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2025 and will be finished by the end of the year. It will be executed by one of Cadeler’s two O-class vessels, which will feature a new crane with a lifting capacity of 1600 metric tons at a radius of 40m.The He Dreiht project, which will operate on a subsidy-free basis by EnBW…

An upgrade by Kongsberg Maritime of the waterjets on a catamaran ferry operated by the family-run firm of AG EMS brings a new level of efficiency and environmental consideration to a route traversed by the company for 143 years.Claus Hirsch, the fleet manager with AG EMS, is a likable and personable individual. His easy demeanor suggests that he is contented with his lot in life, and no one would blame him for that. The company he works for is a family-run concern with a benevolent…

Offshore installation firm Jan De Nul said Thursday that Les Alizés, its next-gen floating offshore installation vessel had been launched at the CMHI Haimen shipyard in China.The vessel is now ready for the final construction phase, including sea trials, to be completed by H2 2022.Les Alizés will be the largest Heavy Lift Vessel in Jan De Nul’s fleet, able to install XXL offshore wind components, in floating conditions and with ultra-low emissions.The launch started on January 2, by flooding the dry dock in which Les Alizés was built.

Seaway 7, a company specializing in offshore wind installation services, has informed that construction has started for its next-generation Wind Turbine Installation Vessel (WTIV) at the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) facility in Jiangsu, China. In a statement on Thursday, Seaway 7 said the first steel cutting ceremony marked the first major milestone in bringing its GustoMSC NG-14000XL-G jack-up vessel to the market.This week, Seaway 7 also revealed the new build vessel’s name; Seaway Ventus meaning ‘wind’ in Latin.

Danish offshore wind installation firm Cadeler has been chosen as a preferred supplier of wind turbine generator installation vessels by Ørsted for the combined Gode Wind 3 & Borkum Riffgrund 3 projects in the German North Sea.The award covers the transport and installation of a minimum of 48 x 11MW turbines, which will be located adjacent to Ørsted's existing offshore wind farms Borkum Riffgrund 1 and Borkum Riffgrund 2 and in the vicinity of Gode Wind 1 and 2.For this project Cadeler will deploy its installation vessel Wind Osprey…

Offshore wind installation contractor Seaway 7 has been selected as a preferred contractor by Ørsted for the transport and installation of wind turbine generators for part of the Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farms in Germany. Under the contract, the first since the last week's merger between OHT and Seaway 7, the company will use its jack-up installation vessel VIND1, currently under construction in China.The two offshore wind projects are expected to be fully commissioned in 2024 and 2025.

Penguin Shipyard International delivered the 46-meter, 450-passenger catamaran ferry Nordlicht II to Germany's AG EMS after the completion of sea trials in Singapore.Built by Penguin's wholly-owned subsidiary in Batam, PT. Kim Seah Shipyard Indonesia, the ferry is based on the Incat Crowther 46 design, the largest vessel from the drawing boards of Incat Crowther’s Europe office.The vessel will be operated on a number of routes, including serving the North Sea-islands Borkum and…

Acta Marine has this week completed its three-year maintenance campaign for Ocean Breeze on the Bard Offshore 1 wind farm, the first commercial offshore wind farm in Germany.Acta Marine's Acta Auriga walk-to-work support vessel - which offers comfortable accommodation and workspace to 120 passengers - started the O&M works on the Bard Offshore 1 wind farm in April 2018 just weeks after vessel delivery from Ulsteinvik in Norway.The offshore wind farm is located approximately 100…

The offshore wind industry has made great strides to become a cost-competitive option for grid and off-grid energy solutions. And today, the industry is growing faster than ever before, both in the well-established European market and in newer ones such as in China, Taiwan, Japan and the U.S.As the industry keeps growing, projects and turbines do too, says Philip Lewis, director of research at World Energy Reports."Offshore wind is becoming more mainstream, and as it does, the average project size is increasing…

A high-tech tug in the Netherlands has traveled without human intervention on an AI-optimized route from Boompjes to Waalhaven in the Port of Rotterdam, marking a milestone on the path toward fully autonomous and maritime sustainable operations.The milestone voyage was led by maritime service provider KOTUG International, ship design company Rotortug and tech start-up Captain AI, as part of the Netherlands Forum for Smart Shipping.The demonstration follows the summer 2018 trial of a Rotortug sailing under remote control from Marseille…

Norwegian offshore vessel owners Golden Energy Offshore has secured a contract extension for its IMR Despina vessel.The charter extension will take effect in direct continuation of the current contract with Fugro. Golden Energy Offshore did not provide info on the length of the new contract.According to available info, Fugro is currently using the 2011-built IMR Despina for a geotechnical site investigation at the Borkum Offshore Wind Farm in Germany.Golden Energy Offshore info…

Dutch shipyard Royal Niestern Sander has begun building a new aft for a passenger ferry that will be converted to liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion for German operator AG Ems.The shipyard is designing and building a completely new stern section to replace the one existing on the 1986-built passenger ship Münsterland, which will be fited with dual fuel engines, LNG storage tanks, propulsion systems, all LNG installations, pipelines and other systems.Niestern Sander was awarded the contract to undertake the project in July 2019…

Offshore wind farm vessels provider Fred. Olsen Windcarrier announced that its jack-up vessel Blue Tern has been contracted to finish installing the remaining 11 Senvion 6.2M152 turbines on the Trianel Windpark Borkum II (TWB II).“We are looking forward to working with our new client and to get the chance to support the finalization of the Trianel wind farm with our jack-up vessel Blue Tern. Blue Tern is ideal for this project due to her capacity”, said Kristina Pind Løvgren, Head of Nautical, Fred. Olsen Windcarrier.Kristina added: "Our related company, Global Wind Service, is already on the project and delivers technicians, QA and Site Management for the installation and mechanical completion of the turbines.

German wind turbine builder is carrying out a condition monitoring campaign at the 402MW Veja Mate offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.The rotor blade condition monitoring system or fos4X “retroX” system, consisting of a sensor platform and intelligent software, was installed on strategically selected 10% of the wind farm’s turbines."The system enables structural condition monitoring of the rotor blades, recording of loads during turbine life time as well as the detection of yaw and pitch misalignment," said a press note from the specialist in fiber optic measurement technology and sensor technology.A further aspect of the joint project carried out by fos4X is the monitoring, consolidation and orchestration of the entire turbine and subsystem data.

DNV GL has signed a four-year framework agreement with TenneT to provide project certification for new High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC)  substations linked to offshore wind farms in the German North Sea.Agreement includes certification of TenneT’s DolWin5 converter platform with cost-saving offshore grid connection concept. TenneT awarded DNV GL the contract following an independent EU tendering process.Under this framework agreement, DNV GL is expected to carry out project certification for upcoming TenneT’s HVDC platforms, representing a cost-saving grid connection concept which will be applied for connecting offshore wind farms…