Versatile new SOV hybrid makes waves

The 93.4m x 18m Windea Jules Verne was officially named at the start of October and is now part of the German owner’s specialist offshore fleet. It is designed for wind farm service but is also suitable for operation and maintenance work or in construction support, the Schulte Group reported.

Windea Jules Verne is supporting maintenance work for charterer GE Renewable Energy at the 66-turbine, 396MW German wind farm Merkur Offshore in the North Sea. The project was developed with Windea Offshore, Bernhard Schulte’s wind farm affiliate. The new ship is owned by Windea and operated by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement.

It is the third offshore SOV to be designed and built for Schulte by Norway’s Ulstein Verft. The first were the 88m x18m, Type XS175 German-flag sisters Windea La Cour and Windea Leibniz, delivered in 2016 and 2017 and described as two of the first purpose-built SOVs for the wind industry.

The larger Type XS195 Windea Jules Verne is the group’s first SOV equipped with a hybrid diesel-electric propulson system from Ulstein. Reports confirmed for the Motorship by a BS official said the system comprised four Cat 3512C engines of 1786bkW operating at 1800rpm and Corvus battery equipment. Maximum speed provided is put at 13 knots.The ship can switch to battery power to minimise fuel usage during high energy-demanding operations like DP. Overall, fuel savings are expected to be between 5 to10 percent.

With all main equipment and operations aft, the ship functions naturally astern while in-field, BS said. Reports also said that Cat SCR systems were installed on the newbuild.

Keeping its X-Stern to the weather prevents slamming, noise and vibration caused by waves. Windea Jules Verne is also equipped with a large, centrally positioned W2W motion compensated gangway and elevator tower for personnel and cargo transfer and there is a 3D compensated crane capable of 2-ton cargo lifts.

Optimised on-board logistics include large storage capacities, of which half is under cover in a controlled environment, and there is a stepless approach to the offshore installations.

Windea Jules Verne is of 3,300dwt, draws 6.4m and accommodates up to 120 personnel, against 60 listed for its predecessors. Gibralter-flagged, it is also DNV GL classed.