Norwegian Owner Østensjø Rederi Commissions Newbuild Wind Farm Service Vessel

Image: Østensjø Rederi

Norwegian based shipping company Østensjø Rederi is constructing a new wind farm service vessel after landing a five-year contract from DONG Energy, some good news in an otherwise slow market for offshore service companies.

The new vessel is designed by Rolls-Royce and will be constructed at the Astilleros Gondan shipyard in Spain with delivery set for September 2017.

The decision to build the vessel comes after Østensjø Rederi landed a firm five-year contract from DONG Energy for operations at the Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm in the UK. The vessel will function as a mothership for wind turbine technicians as they perform maintenance work on wind turbines at the offshore wind farm.

“This contract enables us to expand our business into the renewable energy sector. It has been the strategy of Østensjø Rederi to diversify our operations. Thus, we are pleased that DONG Energy has awarded us this exciting opportunity in a sector we believe have further demands for similar vessels in the near future”, says Johan Rokstad, CEO of Østensjø Rederi AS.

The newbuild is a DP2 Service Operation Vessel with high station keeping capacities. It will have 60 single cabins with accommodations for up to 40 wind turbine technicians and 20 crew members. The vessel will feature a motion compensated gangway system with an adjustable pedestal to ensure safe operations and optimal uptime. The 81.10 m long vessel, with a beam of 17.0 m, will work out of Grimsby operation base.

“The Service Operating Vessel will be an important step to ensure safe and efficient operation of windfarms far from shore, starting with Race Bank windfarm, and we are convinced that DONG Energy will benefit from Østensjø Rederi’s long experience in conducting safe operations in an offshore environment.“, says Jens Jakobsson, Senior Vice President for Wind Power Operations in DONG Energy

The newbuild will be the 12th vessel Østensjø Rederi has built at Astilleros Gondan.

The Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm will be located in the North Sea approximately 16.8 miles off Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk coast and 17.4 miles off the Lincolnshire coast at Chapel St Leonards. The offshore array will cover an area of approximately 29 square miles with a maximum capacity of up to 580MW. The project is expected to become operational in 2018.