Danish offshore wind specialist Ørsted has signed a 15-year charter contract with Ta San Shang Marine, a joint venture of Taiwan’s Ta Tong Marine Group (TTM) and Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), which will see the construction of the first-ever Taiwan-flagged service operation vessel (SOV).
The SOV will be used for operation and maintenance at Ørsted’s Greater Changhua offshore wind farms, with delivery scheduled for early 2022. It will be based from the Port of Taichung.
Christy Wang, Taiwan general manager at Ørsted Asia Pacific, commented: “Ørsted develops, constructs and operates offshore wind farms around the world and is pioneering and driving offshore wind development in Taiwan. Not only are we building the O&M base in the Port of Taichung, we’re also setting an unprecedented industry practice in Taiwan and the region by deploying the bespoke service operation vessel for the Greater Changhua offshore wind farms. More importantly, this SOV contract has given the Taiwanese vessel supplier a unique opportunity to tap into state-of-the-art technology in the offshore wind industry.”
The vessel has been ordered by Ta San Shang Marine with Norway’s Vard.
The Greater Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind farms will be located off the coast of Changhua County and have a enough capacity to supply around 1 million households. Construction of the offshore wind farms will be finalised between 2021 and 2022.
