The first-ever bespoke Taiwan-flagged Service Operations Vessel (SOV) is being built for Ørsted’s Greater Changua offshore wind farms and will be delivered in 2022 to provide Taiwanese O&M technicians with a safer working environment and ensure optimal performance of the wind farms.
“The vessel, along with the O&M base at Port of Taichung, signifies Ørsted’s long term commitment to Taiwan, as we have a unique build-to-operate business model!”
Back in April 2020, Ørsted announced the signing of a 15-year contract with Ta San Shang Marine Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Taiwan’s Ta Tong Marine Group (TTM) and Japan’s 130-year-old Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), chartering the shipping company to build the world’s first-ever Taiwan-flagged service operation vessel (SOV) for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of Ørsted’s Greater Changhua offshore wind farms.
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, due to its proximity to the sites, water depths for accommodating deep-draft vessels, and navigational access. The SOV will be utilized to provide top-quality O&M services for the Greater Changhua offshore wind farms, which will be located 35 to 60 kilometres off the Changhua coastline.
The SOV is the first to be built to fit the complicated and harsh environment in the Taiwan Strait. It will house up to 60 technicians plus the crew and will only need to return to shore once a month. The smaller crew transfer vessels (CTVs), also used to facilitate O&M activities, can only carry a maximum of 24 people and have to return to shore on a daily basis.
