Briggs Marine expands into Japanese offshore wind sector with Mitsui and Hokutaku tie-up
UK marine services company Briggs Marine has teamed up with Horizon Ocean Management (HOM), a joint venture between Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co and compatriot wind turbine maintenance firm Hokutaku, to offer services to the expanding offshore wind sector in Japan.
The agreement will see both companies work together to provide pre-bidding development advisory services, development loss prevention services, installation support and operational strategic advisory and service provision across the offshore wind asset spectrum.
HOM has already established a position within the Japanese offshore wind supply chain, and Briggs Marine said that with its position as the preeminent cable service company in Europe, the collaboration would deliver a “powerful world-class proposition” to offshore wind development, loss prevention and insurance, installation and operational players.
Nobuyuki Takagi, managing director of HOM, said: “The European offshore wind supply chain has a wealth of marine and subsea experience via its long history in sectors such as oil and gas. In order to realise our national offshore wind deployment vision, HOM believes that learning from and working with the leading companies in these more advanced markets will develop and improve Japanese competence earlier, ultimately helping to establish middle to long-term local capability.”
Collieson Briggs, managing director of Briggs Marine, added: “We continually monitor growing overseas opportunities and identified Japan as the most appropriate market to establish a presence within the rapidly evolving Asian renewable sector. It was clear from early discussions that Briggs and HOM shared a number of common aspirations and ideologies, the decision to establish a collaboration agreement was an easy one to make. We are confident that HOM will be a strong player in the Japanese offshore wind market when the O&M service market reaches critical mass in the coming years.”
The collaboration agreement between both parties is effective immediately, and both parties are said to be actively working with customers in Japan across offshore wind development, insurance and asset installation disciplines.
