The first of two M-class offshore wind turbine installation vessels, Wind Maker, has been delivered to Cadeler of Denmark.
The company has also signed the first contracts for its second M-class vessel, Wind Mover, which is also being built in South Korea.
Aggregated contracts value is £62million (75million euros).
Wind Maker is the sixth vessel in Cadeler’s growing fleet of wind installation vessels; with the seventh and sister ship, Wind Mover, currently scheduled for delivery in Q4 this year.
However, Wind Maker was originally ordered by Eneti, with the vessel being integrated into the Cadeler fleet following the merger between the two companies.
The M-class DP2 capability jack-up design was developed by GustoMSC (NG-16000X model) and notably features a 2,600-tonne Huisman “leg encircling” crane.
The class has been designed to operate in water depths of 65m.
Following delivery, Wind Maker will head for the Greater Changhua wind farm project offshore Taiwan to start on its first contract.
Greater Changhua straddles four sites in the Taiwan Strait, approximately 35km to 60km off the coast of Changhua County, Taiwan.
The sites include the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms with a capacity of 900MW, the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 wind farms with a capacity of 920MW, and the future Greater Changhua 3 project with a capacity of 600MW.
Danish energy company Orsted is the developer of the project.
Turning to the Wind Mover, Cadeler has signed two contracts with undisclosed clients.
Construction is apparently advancing well at Hanwha Ocean shipyard.
Following completion, the vessel will start out by supporting operations and maintenance (O&M) activities, along with potential installation work in European waters, therefore primarily in the North Sea.
A key project on the Cadeler books for one or the other of the M-class sisters will be to carry out installation work at the 1.1GW, 72-turbine Inchape wind farm offshore Scotland’s Angus coastline.
Completion of the array is scheduled for 2027.
Despite the chronic shortage of ship capacity in the North Sea – construction vessels and mother ships (CSOVs) – Clarksons Securities is warning of a slowdown of CSOV orders this year due to price inflation.
The Clarksons newbuild index for this class of vessel shows the cost of newbuilds has shot up 35% since early 2021.
“24 CSOV newbuild orders were placed in 2022, 23 were placed in 2023 and 24 were placed in 2024 (including five SOV-based designs developed for oil and gas applications),” says the analyst.
“Thus, less than 24 CSOV newbuild orders will have to be placed in 2025 for our prediction to come true.”
Meanwhile, Clarksons also reports that CSOV players have seen sub-par share price performances over the last six months, leading to unusually wide discrepancies between implied equity market prices and new-build costs.
“Edda Wind currently trades at a near record wide 44% discount to our calculated NAV, while Integrated Wind Solutions trades at a 29% discount.
“With equities of well-managed companies pricing substantially below current newbuild cost, even before accounting for additional ready-for-sea costs and equipment add-ons, and newbuild prices soaring, we believe newbuild ordering activity will slow in 2025.”
Clarksons warns too that market consolidation is on the cards, with at least one CSOV operator merger anticipated this year.
With almost 30 different players either operating CSOVs currently or having such ships on order, the market for accommodation vessels has fragmented.
“With a number of players, some with limited operational experience in the segment, about to take delivery of their first vessels in 2025, we believe consolidation in the space will become inevitable,” adds the analyst.
Now for something completely different, very unremarkable but also hugely necessary as more and more offshore oil and gas installations are dismantled, especially in the North Sea.
Boa of Norway has placed an order with Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore in China to build the Boabarge 39, with an option for Boabarge 40.
Delivery of Boabarge 39 is set for Q3 next year and is basically a giant box with a few tweaks. It is dumb and, therefore towed around and manoeuvred by tugs.
The barge is designed for load-out and float-off operations, heavy-load transportation, drydocking, salvage, and decommissioning projects.
It measures 166m by 73.38m by 9.15m and has a heavy cargo capacity of about 57,500 tonnes. The deck can cope with up to 35 tonnes per square metre.
Four removable flotation towers provide stability and flexibility.
A hybrid power system integrates solar, battery, generators, and shore power.
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