CWind announced today a long-term charter contract agreement with Ørsted, delivering by mid2020, the world’s first hybrid powered Surface Effect Ship (SES) to Borssele 1 and 2 offshore wind farms.
The agreement between the world’s leading windfarm operator Ørsted and CWind, part of the Global Marine Group, covers an initial three-year firm charter with options available for a further two years. The Hybrid SES crew transfer vessel will be operating from the Dutch port of Vlissingen, to Borssele 1 and 2, located 23km from the Dutch coast in the North Sea.
The development of the Hybrid SES for use as a crew transfer vessel is in response to an industrywide push to develop and deploy innovative technologies that reduce CO2 emissions, whilst cost effectively servicing windfarms located further offshore. CWind’s Hybrid SES crew transfer vessel achieves this through a combination of electric and diesel propulsion which, when combined with the surface effect hull form and heave compensation technology, is able to operate in sea states of up to 2.0m Hs, whilst decreasing fuel burn and CO2. The Hybrid SES is, therefore, able to deliver crew faster to these sites and with improved comfort, resulting in increased operation days offshore for our client’s O&M and construction activities.
