Offshore staff
MARSEILLE, France — BOURBON and IWS Fleet AS, the vessel owning-subsidiary of Integrated Wind Solutions ASA, have formed a partnership to address commissioning and maintenance of wind farms offshore France.
Under the agreement, BOURBON will market and operate IWS’ Skywalker class windfarm walk-to-work vessels in French waters, with ship management performed by affiliate Bourbon Offshore Surf.
The group employs about 500 French seafarers with relevant offshore experience.
IWS has four vessels under construction, all due to be delivered by the first half of 2024. It also has options to order two further Skywalker class commissioning service operation vessels.
BOURBON’s goal is to use the partnership to offer a range of services dedicated to the maintenance of offshore wind farms. France plans more than 7 GW of floating installations by 2030, according to Green Ducklings A/S.
The Skywalker class DP2 walk-to-work vessels are 90 m long with a capacity for up to 120 personnel on board. Features include a 3D compensated gangway and crane, and battery hybrid propulsion to reduce CO2 emissions and to operate zero emission for certain periods.
BOURBON could provide complementary ROV, subsea engineering and survey services for below water services while IWS, via its subsidiary ProCon Wind Energy A/S, could supply above water line services, balance of plant and transition piece and offshore substations.
06.16.2022
