Both vessels will be built at the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Nantong, with each equipment package consisting of a 3D motion compensated electrical gangway system, Colibri crane and a remote control station located on the vessel bridge. Awind has also secured option agreements for up to four additional vessels.
“Awind is very pleased to be partnering with MacGregor to support turbine commissioning at Dogger Bank, the world’s largest offshore wind farm,” said Christopher A. Heidenreich, MD, Awind (IWS Fleet). “This demonstrates the attractiveness of these highly capable “walk-to-work” vessels, which will be equipped to handle a variety of tasks required to support offshore wind farms during the installation, commissioning, operations and maintenance phase.”
The order was booked into Cargotec’s second quarter of 2021 order intake and the vessels will be delivered during the first and second quarters of 2023.
Both vessels will be prepared for continuous zero-emission operations and will operate as mother vessels for wind turbine technicians as they perform safe and efficient work on the offshore turbines.
"MacGregor is delighted to have been selected by Awind to supply critical equipment to the two CSOV buildings, and we highly value the trust placed in our capability to support the development of wind energy,” added Leif Byström, head, offshore solutions division, MacGregor.