CREW TRANSFER
Innovative Crew Transfer Systems
Osbit Power’s reputation for innovative crew transfer systems has helped it record it’s most successful year.
The company developed MaXccess to provide safe transfer from small crew transfer vessels to offshore turbines. It is still the only system to be successfully deployed commercially for industry-leading customers such as Marubeni’s Fukushima offshore wind farm.
COUNTRY’S FIRST FLOATING WIND FARM
Fukushima began operating 20 km off the Japanese coast in November 2013 as the country’s first floating offshore wind farm.
Consisting of one 2MW floating turbine supplied by Hitachi and a 66kV floating sub-station, the project is located in deep waters where harsh wave conditions regularly restrict safe access.
SELECTION PROCESS
OP’s MaXccess-T18 crew transfer system was chosen for the project’s vessel J-Cat One because it provides safer transfers in higher wave conditions than can be achieved by the vessel alone. Osbit’s engineers had designed it around the principle of passive compensation of vessel motions, with unique linkage arrangements allowing the vessel to freely roll, pitch and yaw without the need for active compensation.
Company sets sights on European offshore wind boom
Offshore energy support vessel (OESV) operator places £6 million, two-boat order and prepares to launch second tank-tested 26m catamaran ahead of 2017 construction boom.
£6 MILLION ORDER
Class-leading offshore energy crew transfer vessel operator Seacat Services has placed an order worth £6 million with local boat builder South Boats IOW for two DNV-GL class-certified next generation 24m catamarans as it looks to bolster its fleet ahead of the next phase of European offshore wind construction.
STEADY INDUSTRY GROWTH
While new construction is set to slow during 2015 as a number of sites reach completion, throughout 2016 installation activity is projected to steadily increase and in 2017, a significant uptick is anticipated as numerous large projects get underway.
Concurrently, demand for larger, more versatile crew transfer vessels to service deep water developments in Germany, Denmark the Netherlands, Belgium and soon France will continue to grow steadily as the industry expands.
DEMAND In order to cater for this expected spike in demand for high-quality 92
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
Dr Tony Trapp, Managing Director of OP, based in Riding Mill in Northumberland, said: “Our huge success in 2014 - led by our innovative engineers working on products like MaXccess – is reflected in the results we published last year, with turnover up 450%.
“UK offshore wind power generation started in 2000 with a small project just a few miles from us in Blyth and has now grown to be the most productive in the world.
support vessels, Seacat Services has committed to extending an ambitious build programme with South Boats that has already seen the launch of eight state-of-the-art catamarans, each building on the unparalleled quality, reliability and safety standards set by the last.
With Seacat Courageous - the firm’s second 26m tank-tested OESV – currently in build and due for launch in mid-February this year, the two new 24m catamarans, named Seacat Mischief and Seacat Magic, are scheduled for launch in October 2015 and January 2016 respectively.
CUSTOM DESIGN Once complete, the vessels, built to a custom design specification, will expand the Seacat Services operational fleet to 11 and will be available for charter in both the domestic and wider European markets.
FORWARD-THINKING AND TIMELY INVESTMENT “As the offshore wind market prepares to enter by far its most significant and challenging phase of development to date, firms throughout the supply chain must start gearing up to support that expansion,” said Ian Baylis, Managing Director, Seacat Services. “As ever, this will require forward-thinking and timely investment.
CO-OPERATION AND SUPPORT
“It’s also going to depend on the ability of those firms to co- operate and support each other. That’s one of the reasons why our ongoing relationship with South Boats Isle of Wight has always been so beneficial, not only to us, but also to the clients we serve and the industry at large.
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