The Scotland-based company, Inverlussa Marine Services, will provide offshore support for two-and-a-half years during the construction phase of Dong Energy’s Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm. The offshore support will take place within a joint venture with Mainprize Offshore Ltd.
Race Bank has a potential capacity of up to 580 MW and is located roughly 30 km off the east coast of England. The team of Inverlussa Marine will supply fuel, food, water and spares, maintain buoys, clear debris, provide guard-asset protection and emergency tug during the construction. They will carry out their work on the specially designed Helen Mary, which was built (as part of a £ 3.5 million investment) to allow the mussel farming company to expand their business into the renewable energy sector. Through this expansion, the company has been able to hire nine new members of staff, taking the total head count to around 50.
The Helen Mary is equipped with a 150T/M crane, triple propulsion, 4 point anchoring for dive support, and a large deck which is able to carry six 20ft containers and it also features high redundancy across most systems ensuring less downtime than other vessels.
Ben Wilson, Managing Director, Inverlussa Marine Services, said: “Winning this major contract is a great start to our expansion into the renewables sector. There was a lot of competition from very experienced European vessel operators for this contract, but our vessel offered something very different from the normal guard vessel. We look forward to working with Dong Energy and Mainprize Offshore Ltd on this project.”
Jason Ledden, Construction Project Manager for Race Bank at Dong Energy, said: “Dong Energy is absolutely committed to using UK suppliers whenever possible and we are very happy to be working with Inverlussa Marine Services and Mainprize Offshore Ltd on our Race Bank project. Race Bank is a significant offshore wind farm which will be capable of powering over half a million UK homes, and these two UK companies will play a vital role in construction. It's also really encouraging to hear this contract has led to new staff being taken on at Inverlussa Marine Services and has helped the business kick-start its expansion into the renewables sector."
Tanja Peschel / Inverlussa Marine Services
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