The vessel will shortly commence service at the Sandbank wind farm for Siemens.

The lady sponsor, Dai Ling, named the second wind farm service vessel of the Hamburg based shipping company Bernhard Schulte and the Beijing based financial company ICBC Leasing. The vessel carries the name of the German mathematician, philosopher and physicist Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, who in the 17th century proposed to use wind power to operate pumps.

The naming ceremony was held in Ulsteinvik, Norway, at the Ulstein Verft yard premises. The vessel has been designed by Ulstein Design & Solutions AS.

“Once again, Ulstein Verft proves the ability to deliver state-of-the-art vessels to the agreed time. We look forward to seeing the vessel at work, and hear the feedback of her results when operating in the renewable market,” says managing director Kristian Sætre at Ulstein Verft.

Work scope

Starting from April, the vessel will work at the Sandbank wind farm in the German Bight for Siemens Wind Power Service to ensure the production of green energy from 72 wind turbines.

The usage of the so-called Service Operation Vessels (SOV) will improve the efficiency of service operations at offshore wind farms. The vessel functions as a reliable and environmentally sound platform for wind farm operations and maintenance support, technician accommodation and transport, and the provision of exceptional levels of safe and reliable access to offshore installations.

X-STERN

“The vessel has the X-STERN™ hull shape, which allows it to be positioned with the stern faced towards the weather instead of the bow only”, said Matthias Müller, Managing Director of Bernhard Schulte Offshore. He continued: “Her award-winning sister vessel ‘Windea La Cour’, which is working in the Dutch Gemini wind farm since August, has already proven that this leads to improved weather resilience, greater operability and reduced power and fuel consumption while on DP mode next to the wind turbine.”

Vira Maritime