Building for a cleaner, greener future

摘要

In light of the exponential growth that the offshore wind sector is experiencing, there have been varying predictions that this growth may have a lifespan of just five more years. Ship & Boat International spoke to Michiel Wijsmuller, president of Ijmuiden-based Offshore Ship Designers in the Netherlands. Wijsmuller, while not able to affirm these predictions, feels that the market for offshore support and maintenance is underestimated. "Even when no more new wind farms are being built, maintenance will go on," he says, adding that the offshore sector is still one of the healthier markets to be in within the maritime sector at present. Earlier this year Offshore Ship Designers launched a new offshore wind farm maintenance vessel concept - Sea-Wind. The design is intended to serve as a 'mother-ship' from which offshore support and maintenance vessels can be given haven and deployed to offshore wind farms nearby.