Acta Marine has won a contract by Offshore Breeze Energy (OBE) to charter its newly built offshore support vessel (OSV) Acta Auriga at OBE’s Bard Offshore 1 wind farm in the German North Sea.
The two-year charter will see Acta Auriga perform logistical support for maintenance activities at the 400MW Bard Offshore 1 wind farm, operating out of Emden.
The vessel, which is currently undergoing outfitting and commissioning activities in Ulsteinvik, Norway, will be delivered by Ulstein Verft at the end of Q1 2018, after which the OSV will undergo trials and commence its works at the offshore site.
According to Acta Marine, the vessel’s walk-to-work gangway system and 3D compensated crane are able to cope with the challenging weather and sea conditions that occur in the German Bight, where the wind farm is located about 100km offshore.
The 93.4 meter long Acta Auriga is an Ulstein-designed X-bow & X-stern DP2 OSV equipped with SMST motion compensated gangway with integrated elevator and crane functionality. It is able to perform 3D compensated lifts with its 6t SMST 3D crane and is equipped with a fuel-efficient drive system.
The vessel comprises state-of-the-art covered warehousing facilities, integrated people and cargo logistics and stepless approach to the offshore installations. A total of 120 people can stay onboard in its 80 cabins.
Inaugurated in 2013, Bard Offshore 1 is the first commercial offshore wind farm in Germany.