Havyard delivers its first windmill vessel
The contract for the first two Havyard 832 SOV windmill service vessels was signed in July 2013, and the first of them, newbuild 118, will now be delivered from Havyard Ship Technology's yard in Leirvik in Sogn. The two vessels will be used under long-term contracts with Siemens on service assignments for offshore windfarms. Vessel number two in the series is scheduled for delivery from the yard in March this year. Esvagt has also ordered an additional Havyard 832 SOV from Havyard. It will be under contract for Dudgeon windfarm, which is operated by Statoil, the company said in its press release.
'This is yet another milestone for Havyard,' says Kenneth Pettersen, who is head of the Ship Technology business area in Havyard Group ASA. 'Havyard has good references and a strong position in designing, building and fitting out advanced vessels for use in connection with offshore oil production. We have now used this expertise and experience to gain a foothold in the new and exciting renewable energy segment. We also design and build vessels for the fisheries and aquaculture industries, and we have orders for several icebreaker vessels on our books.
In times with low oil prices and a weak market for the oil service companies, it is a strength that we have several strings to our bow. We will use our expertise to continue to explore opportunities in alternative markets,' says Kenneth Pettersen.
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 vessel. In addition, Havyard Power & Systems, which is based in Ålesund, will deliver the electrical engineering, automation and alarm systems and Havyard ConceptBridgeTM. 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, lie fish carriers, offshore vessels, icebreakers and service vessels for windfarms under construction for shipping companies from Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Russia.
'Most companies in our industry are experiencing a challenging situation because of the low oil price, a reduced activity level and cost-cutting by the oil companies,' says Gisle Vinjevoll Thrane, who is Senior Vice President Sales at Havyard Design & Solutions AS. 'However, we also see many opportunities in other markets, not just in the offshore industry. The low exchange rate for the Norwegian krone is also an advantage for us, and we are now finding that we can compete with countries that we have previously regarded as low-cost countries. This is a golden opportunity for foreign shipping companies, or shipping companies whose revenues are in foreign currency, to build in Norway,' says an optimistic Thrane, who strongly believes that new orders will be placed in the near future.
In addition to designs 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.
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.
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.