James Fisher Marine Services is to provide temporary pontoons at Newhaven port during construction of the 400MW Rampion offshore wind farm to enable the safe transfer of personnel.
James Fisher will design, manufacture, install and maintain the pontoons at the port, which is the construction management base for the project.
The company said it has worked closely with its sister company Mojo Maritime on the pontoon project.
The design of the first 60-metre pontoon section is complete, and James Fisher has had the contract extended for a second 60m unit.
The company said the floating platforms have been designed with a special runner system to ensure the safe transfer of personnel and improve docking operations.
The design means that crew transfers will be speeded up because it eliminates the need to amend mooring lines and adjust gangways to accommodate the tide, James Fisher said.
Mojo project manager Nigel Furneaux said: “We recommended moving the boarding point of the pontoon to a slightly different position on site, to minimise the routing of electrical services and this small change is expected to save quite a lot of money.”
James Fisher is also providing a guard vessel for Rampion for an initial short-term charter of seven weeks.
Rampion is being built by Eon, the Green Investment Bank and Canadian energy company Enbridge.
It is expected to be complete in 2018.
Image: illustration of the pontoons (James Fisher)
