IHC Merwede to develop W3GM’s OWTIS

The OWTISconcept has major advantages over existing assets, not least in its ability to improve offshore safety by necessitating fewer tasks to be performed offshore. Itis environmentally friendly – as it has no contact with the seabed – and able to operate in harsh weather and deploy large loads. The OWTIS concept is not limited by water depth and is readily transferable to the oil and gas heavy-lift market.

The purpose-designed OWTISwill be equipped with a unique 1,500-tonne crane which, when used in conjunction with the patented lift system, will enable fully assembled wind turbines to be installed in one lift onto pre-installed foundations. This new industry changing vessel will reduce the cost of installing offshore wind turbines (and foundations) by at least one third compared to current methods.

W3GM and IHC Merwede are committed to completing the engineering design phase by the end of November 2011. This will allow a vessel to be delivered by the end of 2013, making it available for the 2014 season. IHC Merwede has committed significant internal resources to jointly complete the design with W3GM, and as a result the ship will be built in one of IHC Merwede’s shipyards.

IHC Merwede and W3GM expect that OWTIS will be the first of a series of vessels to enable the burgeoning offshore wind industry to meet the economic targets for round three of offshore wind farm development in the UK and other similar projects in Europe.