Fred. Olsen Ocean AS and Teekay Offshore Partners have entered into an agreement to develop a new vessel design for the offshore wind market.
John B. Andersen, VP Business Development in Fred. Olsen Windcarrier, a Fred. Olsen Ocean company, will lead this new initiative and the corresponding team.
“We are very excited to work with Teekay and we see great potential in developing a vessel that fills the gap between crew transfer vessels (CTVs) and service operations vessels (SOVs) in the offshore wind space,” said John B. Andersen.
The two companies are planning to co-develop a vessel that will allow technicians to access wind turbines in higher sea states at a lower cost. The companies said that the new vessel will be ”a game changer and the first step on a journey to bring the HiLoad technology to offshore wind.”
Sea trials are expected to start in the beginning of 2017.
“Teekay is very pleased to have the opportunity to join forces with Fred. Olsen Ocean AS,” said Tor Olav Øie, Head of Strategic Development in Teekay’s Stavanger office.
He added that Teekay is ”excited about the idea of combining our existing HiLoad maritime technology with Fred. Olsen Ocean’s strong operational experience within the renewable energy sector.”