China Merchants Heavy Industry has cut the first steel for Integrated Wind Solutions’ (IWS) second construction service operation vessel (CSOV) at the former’s facility in Jiangsu, China.
The ceremony held on 1 March 2022 marks another major milestone in bringing the series of IWS Fleet’s offshore wind service vessels into the market.
The vessel will be named IWS Windwalker, and the steel cutting was conducted 10 days ahead of the initial project plan.
The first vessel of the class, IWS Skywalker, had its steel cutting conducted 14 January 2022, in accordance with its separate project plan.
IWS Windwalker is the second vessel in the IWS Fleet’s Skywalker class and is designed specifically to support commissioning works during the construction of wind farms.
Both vessels will also support operations and maintenance during the lifetime of offshore wind farms, bottom fixed and floating.
The hybrid powered vessels will be some of the first vessels in the industry capable of zero emission operations, IWS said.
The vessels are designed by Kongsberg Maritime and equipped with the latest generation fully compensated gangway and crane from MacGregor.
The vessel has several “industry firsts” having the largest battery pack with solar panels for additional charging, hull and propulsion design increasing operability and reducing emissions, and an energy consumption estimated to be 20% lower than other CSOV’s currently under construction.
The vessels are also the first in the industry to have the “DNV SILENT” notation, which focuses on minimizing the impact on marine life below water.
Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment (ENOVA) has granted €1m per vessel to support the environmental initiatives on IWS Skywalker and IWS Windwalker.
The vessels advanced technology will reduce annual emissions by more than 1,300t CO2 equivalents per vessel.
IWS chief operations officer Christopher A Heidenreich said: “We are very pleased to achieve this important milestone for our second vessel in the Skywalker class which will be ready for operations mid-2023.
IWS Windwalker will follow its sister vessel IWS Skywalker and take the industry to new heights as it pushes the boundaries of operability, environmental impact and efficiency.”
IWS Windwalker is currently uncommitted, and the company is evaluating several potential opportunities.
The first vessel of this class, IWS Skywalker, will directly after delivery commence its first contract at the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in summer 2023.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is owned by SSE, Equinor, and Eni.
To support the strong market demand for this type of vessels, IWS Fleet is in dialog for ordering additional vessels of the Skywalker class for delivery early 2024.