Orsted is chartering five crew transfer vessels (CTV) to form a Taiwan-flagged fleet for the construction of the Greater Changhua 1&2a offshore wind farms.
Some CTVs will be owned and operated by Dong Fang Offshore, a subsidiary of Taiwanese shipping company Hung Hua Construction.
Others belong to Ventus Marine, a joint venture between Taiwan’s Ta Tong Marine Group and Singapore-based PSA Marine, as well as a joint venture of OPUS MARINE and its Taiwan partners.
The CTV fleet will be operational in 2021 and 2022, supporting the offshore installation campaign. The contracts will also generate business for a range of port services, such as berthing, provision supply and fuel bunkering.
Orsted general manager in Taiwan Christy Wang said: “The CTV contracts well demonstrate Orsted’s commitment towards enabling Taiwan vessel suppliers to expand their business in the offshore wind industry.
“These contracts help the local construction companies build up experience and capabilities in order to enter into future offshore wind project construction business.
“Moreover, we are optimistic to see these contracts paving the way to create employment opportunities for local fishermen as well as providing necessary language and crew trainings to help them get ready to work on CTVs in the near future.”
Dong Fang Offshore managing director Polin Chen said: “We are proud that the company was selected by Orsted to provide CTV services for building the largest Taiwanese Offshore Wind Farms, Greater Changhua 1 & 2a.
“This demonstrates the incredible opportunities offshore wind can create to invigorate Taiwan’s marine industry.
“We are looking forward to bringing our reliability and experience to the table to make the construction of this offshore wind farms a huge success.”
Orsted said the partnership established by through these CTV contracts was a step further towards building a local offshore wind value chain and contributing to Taiwan’s energy transition.