OHT's Shipbuilding Deal for Offshore Wind Installation Vessel Now 'Effective'

OHT, the Norwegian offshore heavy transport firm, and soon to be offshore wind installation contractor has said that its shipbuilding contract for its first offshore wind turbine installation vessel has become effective.

"The shipbuilding contract for OHT’s first WTIV (Wind Turbine Installation Vessel) “Vind 1” has reached contract effectiveness following i.a. the issuance of a Refund Guarantee by China Merchants Industry Holdings’ bank and OHT’s payment of the first yard installment for the vessel," OHT said Tuesday.

OHT back in July announced its plan to order an offshore wind turbine installation vessel, adding to its under-construction offshore wind foundation installation vessel - Alfa Lift.

The company then in October signed a firm order with China Merchants Industry Holdings for the delivery of the jack-up unit for wind turbine generator installation.

The vessel will be of GustoMSC NG-14000XL-G design. It will be designed and built specifically to install the future-generations of offshore wind turbines and XL monopiles and will operate with significant reductions in their environmental footprints.

The vessel is scheduled for delivery in Q2 2023.

As mentioned earlier, OHT also has a wind turbine foundation installation vessel under construction in China. The vessel - named Alfa Lift - to be delivered next year, is designed to install monopiles and jackets from a floating vessel in dynamic positioning mode.

The vessel already has contracts secured to install foundations on the world's largest offshore wind project - the Dogger Bank in the UK.
The contract for the Dogger Bank work has become effective this week, following the financial close being made for the project by SSE and Equinor.

OHT, which has made a name for itself by transporting offshore oil and gas drilling rigs, dredgers, and other heavy machinery, has plans to transition from oil & gas to renewables by focusing its transportation fleet on offshore wind foundation, and turbine installation tasks.

The group plans to exit oil & gas markets entirely within 2026, with the exception of sustainable oil & gas decommissioning projects.