Ørsted announces the signing of a 15-year contract with Ta San Shang Marine, a joint venture of Taiwan's Ta Tong Marine Group (TTM) and Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), chartering the shipping company to build a Taiwan-flagged service operation vessel (SOV).Scheduled for delivery in early 2022, the SOV will use the Port of Taichung as its base port, where Ørsted's future O&M facilities will be located. The SOV will be utilised to provide O&M services for the Greater Changhua offshore wind farms, which will be located 35 to 60 kilometers off the Changhua coastline. It will house up to 60 technicians plus the crew and will only need to return to shore once a month. The SOV will be equipped with a motion-compensated gangway. The SOV will also use a dynamic positioning system to automatically maintain its position and a 3D motion-compensated crane to mitigate wind induced motions on the loads. It will be prepared for fossil fuel-free operation and have an optimized hull design and a battery-hybrid setup to help reduce fuel consumption.
