The international marine contractor Van Oord continues to shine in our sector through its Offshore Wind Projects division, which focuses on Europe. We last spoke to the company’s Johan van Wijland (Director of Offshore Wind Projects) in 2011, and caught up with him again this summer – an exciting time for the company.
PES: Welcome back to PES magazine. How’s business been since your last appearance – is the market performing much as your company had predicted?
Johan van Wijland: The market performs well, but somewhat slower than expected. Some projects in Germany and the UK are facing some delay, but will proceed. Meanwhile, the Van Oord projects in execution are progressing satisfactorily.
PES: And what of your offshore wind unit? Is your investment in this arena beginning to pay dividends?
JW: We are growing steadily. Construction of our offshore installation vessel Aeolus is progressing well after the initial setback of the Sietas insolvency.
