Ulstein Enters China’s Offshore Wind Market

Norwegian ship builder and designer Ulstein has been awarded its first offshore wind ship design contract in China.

The contract was awarded January 25 by China’s ZPMC shipyard to Ulstein Design & Solutions AS for two types of Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) for Shanghai Electric Windpower Group.

China added a world record 16.9 GW of offshore wind capacity in 2021, representing nearly half the world’s total installed offshore capacity before last year and more than double the previous annual record for global installations.

Shanghai Electric, with more than 50% market share, is the largest offshore wind turbine supplier in China. The two purpose-built SOVs will the first and most advanced operating in China’s offshore wind Operations & Maintenance segment.

“Shanghai Electric is the leading provider of offshore wind turbines in China, and with these two world-class SOVs, we believe we can bring more values to our clients and provide a safer working environment to our colleagues at sea,” says Ma Chengbin, General Manager of Engineering Service Company at Shanghai Electric.

“We are proud to announce this important milestone together with Shanghai Electric and ZPMC,” adds managing director Runar Muren at Ulstein Design & Solutions AS. “The cooperation with the ZPMC shipyard goes back to 2012 when the Ulstein DLS 4200 heavy-lift vessel design was constructed there, and currently, the JSD 6000 project, another Ulstein heavy lift vessel design, is in good progress at this yard. We are looking forward to the cooperation with ZPMC and Shanghai Electric. It’s grateful to be part of this breakthrough project. Together we are committed to transforming innovation into safer, greener and more sustainable operations.”

This contract marks Ulstein’s entry into the Chinese offshore wind market after the first dedicated offshore wind support vessel, Seaway Moxie (former Siem Moxie), made its entry into the European market in 2014. Since then, Ulstein has designed and built several other O&M vessels for the European offshore wind market, in addition to Jones Act compliant O&M vessel designs for the US market.

“We are honoured to be selected by Shanghai Electric and ZPMC to design the first SOVs in China. These will be a part of a new standard for future O&M operations in China. We have been working very closely with the clients and our colleagues in Norway and will continue to further develop the Chinese offshore wind industry”. says Johannes Røren, managing director at Ulstein Marine Services.