HOCHTIEF has a new partner for the construction and operation of dynamically positioned offshore jack-up vessels for offshore windfarms and oil&gas: GeoSea, which is part of the Belgian DEME Group, is taking over the BELUGA HOCHTIEF Offshore GmbH shares that were sold by the heavy-lift shipping company Beluga with financial effect on June 1, 2011. The company’s name will be entered in the Register of Companies as HGO Infra Sea Solutions GmbH & Co.KG. Both companies have a 50 percent shareholding. It was agreed that no details of the purchase price would be disclosed. HGO Infra Sea Solutions develops, constructs, manages and charters special purpose offshore vessels for the construction, maintenance and operation of offshore wind farms and oil and gas facilities.
The new joint venture bundles the competences of two providers of offshore solutions. As one of the world’s biggest construction service providers, HOCHTIEF possesses many years of experience in port construction, marine engineering and offshore logistics, and operates its own jack-up platforms. DEME is one of the world’s leading companies in dredging, marine engineering and environmental opertions. GeoSea is DEME’s specialist subsidiary company in the area of world wide installation services for offshore structures with its own jack-up platforms. Both partners plan to also extend their service spectrum to repair, maintain and decommission offshore facilities.
Henner Mahlstedt, CEO of HOCHTIEF Solutions said, “ The services of the two companies complement each other perfectly and make the joint company a powerful player in the market. Since there is substantial demand for offshore installation equipment, we are planning the construction of further special-purpose vessels.”
The joint venture is currently constructing the “INNOVATION I”—the most sophisticated heavy-duty vessel in the offshore market—at the Crist shipyard in Poland. The vessel will be unique in its kind. A technical innovation, this vessel with a payload of 8.000 Tonnes and a crane capable of lifting 1,500 Tonnes will operate in water depths of more than 50 m. it will be the technically most advanced vessel for offshore installations in the market. In the field of renewable energy, the vessel will be ideally suited for the installation of all types of foundations .
Alain Bernard (CEO of the DEME Group) says:” It will be the equipment of choice for the installation of turbines of 5 to 10 MW. The “INNOVATION I” will significantly reduce the assembly and servicing times required for the latest generation offshore wind-turbines. In the Oil and Gas sector, the vessel is ideally suited for a wide range of operations”.
The vessel will be commissioned in mid-2012 and has already been chartered amongst others by AREVA to install and maintain their multimagawatt projects. The jack-up vessel will be used for the first time on the construction of the Global Tech I offshore wind farm.
In 2010 HOCHTIEF Solutions AG and NORDSEE-GeoSea (both DEME subsidiaries) also founded a joint venture which delivers and erects the foundations for the German Baltic wind farm, EnBW Baltic 2 and handles the logistics for the erection of the towers and turbines.
The establishment of the new joint venture company will not alter the independent tendering strategy of both shareholding companies in the field of EPC (Engineer, Procure & Construct) projects.
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Source: DEME, July 06, 2011;