Wärtsilä Ship Design for Offshore Wind Farm Service Vessels
Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply the ship design for the ‘Vestland Cygnus’, a Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) owned by Norway based Norside AS that is to be converted to serve as an offshore wind farm service vessel. The conversion will take place at the Fjellstrand yard in Norway. The contract with Wärtsilä was signed in October.
The re-design includes several new features, such as an accommodation module for 134 people, a 100 ton offshore crane with a range of 40 metres, and a new footpath system for transferring personnel to offshore fixtures. The vessel will have SPS (Special Purpose Ships) class notation.
Following completion of the rebuild project, the ‘Vestland Cygnus’, will transport service personnel to and from wind farms. It will be operated by Vestland Offshore, a Norway based offshore vessel operator. The conversion is scheduled to be completed by June 2016.
“We have developed several concepts for wind farm service vessels, both for newbuilds and conversion projects, and our design is very suitable for this vessel’s new operational profile. We have also worked closely with the Fjellstrand yard for many years on numerous projects and the cooperation between our companies is excellent,” says Ove Wilhelmsen, Managing Director, Wärtsilä Ship Design, Norway.
“The new design will enable the transportation and accommodation of a high number of people. It is important that the vessel has very good stability, even in the most challenging sea and weather conditions, so that personnel can safely board rigs or wind mills. We are confident that the Wärtsilä design meets all our requirements,” says Hans Martin Gravdal, owner of ‘Vestland Cygnus’.
The original ‘Vestland Cygnus’ design was supplied by Wärtsilä and the ship was delivered from the Fjellstrand yard in April 2015. Wärtsilä also supplied a complete electric propulsion system based on the Wärtsilä Low Loss concept with four Wärtsilä 20 engines, as well as an integrated automation system.
