Following the Naming Ceremony for Edda Breeze last Saturday, Edda Wind this Saturday launched Commissioning Service Operation vessel (CSOV) C490 at Astilleros Gondan Shipyard in Spain.
The newbuild is a purpose-built CSOV of similar design as all five vessels being built at Gondan plus additional two vessels ordered at Colombo Dockyards, Sri Lanka. Together with the two SOVs being built at Astilleros Balenciaga, these nine vessels form the expansion program of Edda Wind with all vessels being delivered from now until 2024. All nine vessels will be prepared for emission-free operations with a hydrogen-based propulsion system based on the Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) concept. The vessel will serve as mother vessel for wind turbine technicians as they perform commissioning and maintenance work on offshore wind turbines. The CSOVs is 88.3 in length and can accommodate 120 persons in total while the two SOVs can accommodate 60 persons. All units have high standard cabins and common areas.
C490 will commence operations for SSE Renewables at the Dogger windfarms after delivery in 2023. The contract with SSE is for two years firm plus one optional year.
“Launching of a vessel is always a special moment. Today we celebrate that the second of five sister vessels to be delivered by Gondan was successfully launched. An important milestone for the vessel and a great achievement by Gondan and Edda Wind, particularly considering the challenges faced the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The first four of the new building series plus two existing vessels in the Edda Wind fleet are committed on medium- to long term contracts. The five vessels scheduled for delivery from late 2023 and 2024 are so far not committed. They will be delivered into a market that will have a considerable surplus of demand for these type of vessel for the foreseeable future, further increasing the attractiveness of these assets. We consider having vessels already on order and under construction as a great advantage for Edda Wind. We are currently observing significant increases in building and equipment costs, which make the options Edda Wind hold for further newbuilds increase in attractiveness almost by the day”, says CEO in Edda Wind Kenneth Walland.
