SHIP DESIGN & BUILD
FEATURE SPONSOR
DESIGNERS ENERGISED BY OFFSHORE WIND OPPORTUNITIES
"The offshore wind sector directly challenges ship designers to innovate which is precisely why Houlder has enjoyed success recently" says Mike Simpson, the company’s Marine Design Consultancy Director. He continues “Stakeholders in offshore wind have a distinct set of fleet requirements complicated by environmental design constraints and capital and operational cost drivers. These have inspired our people to look for new solutions and this, combined with expertise gained through years of offshore innovation, means we are well placed to drive things forward.”
PROGRESS
The company has provided maritime design and analysis, engineering and project development services as an independent consultancy for over thirty years. Today, it employs 150 naval architecture and engineering professionals in the UK and USA.
Over the last five years in particular, Houlder has deployed its marine and oil & gas pedigree to support emerging markets. Progress has been good and Houlder was recently named one of the UK’s fastest growing companies by SMARTA’s Breakthrough50 initiative.
MULTI-DISCIPLINED TEAMS Clients, be they the utilities, installation and maintenance contractors or vessel owners and operators, expect the full range of analysis and engineering from Houlder’s multi-disciplinary teams. These combine creativity and pragmatism to develop new concepts, aid decision making and validate project safety, performance and feasibility – all vital steps in planning future offshore energy infrastructure.
PROUD HISTORY
Houlder can trace its history of marine innovation back over a century through The Houlder Brother’s Shipping Line. The company is also still well known for supporting North Sea Oil & Gas exploration in the 1970s and 80s. The current management team have decades of experience designing special purpose vessels, pipe and cable layers, offshore support ships, floating accommodation, passenger transport and construction vessels.
EXPERTISE AND KNOWLEDGE The company’s naval architects and marine engineers are experts in offshore operations and apply that knowledge as they develop vessels from concept through to detailed design. They also design, fabricate and mobilise new equipment; develop deck modifications; upgrade operational equipment and manage extensive conversion, life extension and change of use projects. All of these are driven by the ever-increasing need for more capacity and improved capability.
Whatever the task, Houlder quickly gets to the detail and provides answers using a range tools and up-to-date software all underpinned by significant knowledge of Class Rules and industry regulation. All deliverables – design reports, calculations, drawings, graphics and animations - focus on giving clients the confidence to invest, build, operate and maintain vessels and equipment.
WINDFARM INSTALLATION VESSELS Houlder gained a wealth of experience of turbine installation by developing the design of the Gaoh Offshore Deepwater Installer 1 vessel. The Jack up design was one of the first to address year round operations in mid North Sea locations with water depths of up to 50mts. The Deepwater Installer answers the technical challenge of installing the most distant planned offshore wind farms by providing optimised storage and lifting capacity – the latter via a 1,600t crane.
The design was also optimised to minimise downtime in port. This ensures installation costs per turbine are minimised by balancing capacity, transit speeds and loading times. Houlder developed the design and shipyard specification for the vessel and the lessons learned are currently being applied to other installation vessel projects. In particular, Houlder has developed expertise in deep water jacking operations including leg design and analysis for operation in up to 60m water depths.
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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