Acta Marine’s first 24-passenger capacity crew transfer vessel (CTV) Offshore Wielingen is currently working at the Arkona offshore wind farm, which marks its first mobilization after undergoing capacity modifications.
According to the Dutch company, the increase in the vessel’s passenger capacity represents a direct move in responding to the growing demand from the European offshore wind sector.
The incentive was supported by one of Acta Marine’s long-term clients, who approached the company with an inquiry for a 24-passenger CTV late last year.
The modification and re-certification works were completed at Diverse Marine, former South Boats IOW, in April, after which Offshore Wielingen began providing crew transfers for the inter-array cable laying campaign at the Arkona project.
“Since acquiring our CTV fleet, we have only operated vessels with a 12-person passenger capacity,” said Acta Marine’s Operations Coordinator Kerrie Forster .
“However, due to a growing demand for more capacity in terms of industrial personnel carriage, we started investigating the option of expanding the Offshore Wielingen to meet the newly developed High Speed Offshore Service Craft Code, HS-OSC.”
Located in the German Baltic Sea, the 385MW Arkona offshore wind farm will comprise 60 Siemens Gamesa 6MW turbines scheduled for full commissioning in 2019.