WindServer™ - an efficient solution for Wind Power Industry

Publish date

10/09/2014

Countries and governments all around the world begin to understand the importance of accelerating the developments of their offshore wind power industry. These common aspirations lead to the fact that offshore wind developments move further offshore facing more dangerous and riskier conditions. Such circumstances require professional, safe and cost-effective service able to provide operations in demanding and tough conditions at the wind farms. This is why World Marine Offshore- a Danish offshore shipping company- decided to sign a contract with Fjellstrand on the delivery of 6 vessels that would meet these needs- Windervers.

Having been engineered by Nelton’s engineers, two versions of Windervers were developed: 4x 25m for 12 pax and 2x 30m for 24 pax. However, both designs are made for a purpose of transporting personnel and cargo to and from offshore installations, as well as for supporting services such as survey and inspection, guard and rescue, chase support and diving/SOV operations. Furthermore, the vessels are equipped with apparatus and appliances necessary for living onboard 24/7/365 operation. Other common denominator is Trimaran hull concept with SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) technology that gives an outstanding seaworthiness as well as fuel economy when vessels are in transit speed (max. 25 knots). Moreover, Windervers give its passangers the convenience of low impact of waves as the movement of vessels is highly reduced, which is very important when operating on wind farms. Also, each Winderver is powered by 4x Scania diesel engines (368KW/515KW), optimizing redundancy and enabling to operate on only 3 engines when necessary.
The differences, however small, still exist. The foredeck of the WindServer25 is able to carry a 20” container (or two 10” containers respectively), while deck capacity of Winderver30 is approximately 110m2 with the possibility to have two 20” containers (or four 10” containers respectively). What is more, except for different load line lengths (24m vs. 30m), beams in waterline (9.5m vs. 12m) and deadweight (20t vs. 34t), also service speeds (ballasted condition) differ: WindServer25 offers 12.5 knots, while its bigger version offers 13.5 knots. Therefore, depending on needs, companies operating at the wind farms have quite interesting options to choose from.

The design of WindServers seems to be a sign of a dynamic growth of the offshore wind industry and offshore wind market. Taking into account the fact that in recent years the offshore service sector has been one of the innovation highpoints within the maritime sector, we may expect some further developments in the nearest future. With this view in mind, Nelton Design Group is looking forward to stamping its own imprint on further innovative projects contributing to real breakthroughs in the maritime industry.