Havyard to build a service vessel for Dudgeon wind farm
Havyard Ship Technology has signed a contract with the Danish shipping company ESVAGT for the design and building of yet another Havyard 832 SOV windmill service vessel. ESVAGT will use the vessel on a long-term contract with Dudgeon for the provision of services for Dudgeon offshore wind farm, operated by Statoil, outside the coast of Great Britain.
Market in renewable energy
This will be the third service ship Havyard is to build for offshore wind production and also the third for ESVAGT. The vessel, which will be assigned build number 125 by Havyard Ship Technology’s yard in Leirvik in Sogn, is scheduled for delivery to ESVAGT in September 2016. The ship, which has been designed by Havyard Design & Solutions in Fosnavåg, will serve at Dudgeon wind farm off the coast of Norfolk in the UK. This wind farm is currently being built by Statoil, Statkraft and Masdar. When it is completed in 2017, it will deliver renewable energy to around 410,000 British homes.
Gisle Vinjevoll Thrane, Vice President Sales at Havyard Design & Solutions, is very pleased to see that the focus on service vessels for offshore wind power production is now bearing fruit. ‘The contract for the first two ships for ESVAGT last summer was a breakthrough for Havyard in this market,’ Thrane says. ‘We were very happy to enter into a collaboration with ESVAGT on the first two vessels and even happier to note that they have again chosen us. Havyard has a strong brand name as regards the design and building of service vessels for offshore oil production, and we are now in the process of establishing a position for ourselves in the market for the production of renewable energy as well. The fact that we have products for and relations with different market segments is a big strongpoint for Havyard, and it means that we are not as vulnerable to fluctuations in each individual market,’ says Thrane, who is optimistic about Havyard’s ability to secure new contracts going forward.
The shipping company
ESVAGT was formed in 1981 and its head office is in Esbjerg in Denmark. It operates in the fields of emergency response and anchor-handling vessels, safety training, oil spill response and personnel transport and service for offshore accommodation modules and wind farms. ESVAGT has a fleet of 39 ships and additionally five newbuilds, including the three vessels under construction at Havyard.
A good order book and varied customers
With this order, Havyard Group now has ten newbuilds on order at the yard in Leirvik in Sogn, and the shipbuilding business area has orders on its books worth around NOK 3 billion and will have good capacity utilisation until well into 2016. As is the case for the other vessels built at the shipyard, it is Havyard Design & Solutions that delivers the design and detailed engineering for production of the ship. In addition, Havyard Power & Systems, which is based in Ålesund, will deliver the electrical engineering, automation and alarm systems and Havyard Concept Bridge. The contract will also have ripple effects in the maritime cluster in Western Norway in the form of deliveries of equipment and services to the yard during the building of the ship.
Havyard Ship Technology now has fishing vessels, wellboats, offshore vessels, icebreakers and service vessels for wind farms under construction for shipping companies from Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Russia. The variation in types of vessel, the geographical spread among customers and the markets they operate in are a big strongpoint for Havyard, particularly now that the offshore oil market is experiencing a downturn.
In addition to the design for the building of ships at Havyard’s own yard, Havyard Design & Solutions also has orders for the delivery of design and equipment packages for the building of ships of Havyard designTM in Brazil, Spain, Singapore, India and China. Since 2005, 79 vessels of Havyard designTM have been built or are under construction.
Havyard 832 SOV
The Havyard 832 SOV design has been developed by the Herøy-based design company Havyard Design & Solutions. The design for this contract has been specially adapted to meet the requirements in the assignment description from Statoil for Dudgeon offshore wind farm. The ship’s main job will be to provide accommodation for and carry personnel and equipment for the performance of service and maintenance on offshore windmills. Among other things, this means that the ship has a specialised gangway system that makes it possible to transfer personnel from the ship to the windmills in harsh weather conditions. Otherwise, emphasis has been placed on good facilities and comfort for the personnel on board, the ability to stay in position by the windmills, and environmentally friendly and economical transit between onshore bases and the windmills offshore. Havyard 832 SOV has a foreship designed to have good properties in both calm and rough seas and a stern with twin skegs that improve the performance of the hull and propellers and their operating economy.
- Length: 83.7m
- Breadth: 17.6m
- Speed: 14 knots
- Accommodates: 60 persons