The Windward Offshore joint venture around the Rickmers company ASSC wants to expand its involvement and has ordered two more new ships for this purpose.
The Asian Steamship Company (ASSC), which was managed by Rickmer Clasen Rickmers and others following the death of Bertram Rickmers, joined forces with several partners last year in the Windward Offshore joint venture.
At that time, two new special offshore vessels (Commissioning Service Operation Vessels – CSOV) were ordered from the Norwegian shipyard group Vard, which belongs to the Italian Fincantieri Group. This order has now been extended to include two further newbuilds and the options agreed in 2023 have been drawn, as Vard announced.
The founding partners of Windward Offshore are SeaRenergy Offshore from the ASSC Group, Blue Star Group – an investment company founded by Erck Rickmers -, the shipping company Diana Shipping and SeraVerse.
Rickmers and partners to build in Romania, Norway and Vietnam
“We are convinced that CSOV vessels will play a crucial role in the energy transition and we look forward to offering our customers a comprehensive offshore wind service platform that represents a unique combination of the extensive maritime and offshore wind industry expertise of our founding partners,” said Christoph Geck-Schlich, Managing Director of Windward Offshore.
The 87.5 m long vessels have a width of 19.5 m and will be equipped with a height-adjustable, motion-compensated gangway with elevator system and a height-adjustable mooring system. “For energy-efficient and intelligent operation at sea with the aim of reducing fuel consumption”, the vessels will be equipped with a SeaQ package from Vard Electro, which includes systems and solutions for power supply, control, bridge and communication. The vessels are also prepared to run on green methanol and can accommodate 120 people on board.
All four vessels were designed by Vard Design in Ålesund, Norway. The hulls of two vessels will be built at one of the Vard shipyards in Romania, while the final outfitting, commissioning and delivery will take place in Norway, and the other two vessels will be delivered in Vietnam. They will support energy companies worldwide in the construction, commissioning and maintenance of offshore wind farms.
The first two hybrid CSOVs are scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, while the two successors will be delivered in the second and third quarters of 2026.
