James Fisher and Sons plc (James Fisher) and Uptime International (Uptime) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the use of motion-compensated gangways in the development of the ULSTEIN SX221 Diamond SOV.
The news follows the unveiling of the Diamond Consortium’s ULSTEIN SX221 Diamond SOV concept in June 2022.
With James Fisher representing the Diamond Consortium, a collaboration with Graig, and support from DNV and Ulstein Design Solutions, the SOV will exclusively utilise Uptime’s motion-compensated gangways for the safe transportation of technicians and equipment between vessels and turbines.
The MoU sees James Fisher secure access to critical equipment for its SOV newbuild programme, bolstering its commitment to support the UK’s offshore wind sector to meet its capacity target of 50 GW by 2030, the company said.
James Fisher will have access to Uptime’s full suite of capabilities, including its recently announced Digital Ecosystem which should ensure maximum safety and efficiency of operation through autonomous operations that comprise digital tracking of personnel and equipment through the logistic system onto the wind turbine, including the use of automated pallet robots.
“Based on current project pipelines at least 37 new SOVs are required to meet UK offshore wind demand”, said Jim Hey , group business development director at James Fisher.
“The logistic system is a critical element of SOV design and usage. The combination of James Fisher and Uptime’s expertise and capabilities will shore-up availability of supply with a future-proofed design for gangway technology upgrades.”