On 19 August 2014 a new catamaran was christened at Knock Jetty in Emden. The ship’s godmother, Insa Stoidis-Connemann from Leer, gave the name “Windea Two” to the “Twin Axe Bow” type catamaran from Damen Shipyards and she wished: “Safe voyages for the crew and always a handbreadth of water under the keel for the ship.”
In the future this manoeuvrable Crew Transfer and Service Vessel, CTSV for short, will be transporting both personnel and materials to the offshore wind farms.
Three operating partners have equal shares in the company Schifffahrtsgesellschaft Windea CTV Two GmbH & Co. KG. Besides Emden-based Ems Maritime Offshore GmbH (EMO), these are SSC Wind EMEA GmbH from Wildeshausen and Van Laar Beheer BV from the Dutch town of IJmuiden. Thanks to their joint commitment, this long-standing close collaboration has now been extended even further. For these three companies, the investment in the catamaran “Windea Two” represents a consistent continuation of their involvement in the offshore market segment and is a result of the highly positive developments in recent years.
“WINDEA Two” is in fact the second newly constructed vessel in the space of a year, because its sister ship “Windea One” has already acquired very positive experience. Since coming into service in September of last year, the CTSV has not been inactive for a single day – a fact that encouraged the partners to continue with this ship concept.
The new vessel has a larger foredeck that is some 90 square metres in size and, depending on passengers and the amount of fuel in its tank, it can accommodate between 10 and 15 tonnes of cargo. Normally, however, it is used to ferry personnel and is licensed for up to 12 passengers. In this role the ship moves its bow up to the wind turbine and lets technicians reach the service platform by means of a ladder. Immediately after its christening the CTSV “Windea Two” will commence service in the “Baltic 2” project in the Baltic Sea, stationed in Dragor, Denmark as base port.
The task of operating “Windea Two” will be handled by EMO, with its major experience of such work. With this investment in the new offshore catamaran, the company is further consolidating its position in the offshore market and will continue to play a major role in supplying offshore wind farms with personnel and materials.