World Marine Offshore orders Ørsted-bound crew transfer vessels from Umoe Mandal

 

 

“Our Wavecraft vessels are unique as they are heave compensated and probably the most efficient crew transfer vessels in the world. They can transfer personnel in wave heights up to 2.5 metres and are capable of 40-45 knots service speed. World Marine Offshore (WMO) and Ørsted are the most experienced users of these air-cushioned catamarans. To receive further orders from the companies who are most familiar with this vessel type confirms their confidence in the vessels’ performance and quality,” says Tom Harald Svennevig, CEO of Umoe Mandal.

 

WMO has ordered two newbuild, second generation Wavecraft™ vessels of the Sprinter 28 design from Umoe Mandal. In addition, WMO has entered into four-year bareboat charter agreements for the two existing Wavecraft™ vessels Umoe Firmus and Umoe Rapid. The vessels’ owner, the Umoe Group, is Umoe Mandal’s majority shareholder.

 

UK bound vessels

Upon completion, the two newbuild vessels will enter service for Ørsted on wind farms located on UK’s east coast. Both vessels will be delivered from Umoe Mandal in 2023.

 

Mikkel Windolf, Senior Product Innovation Manager at Ørsted, comments: “Technology is constantly evolving and changing. However, vessel designs have remained relatively stable in the offshore wind business until now. The SES (Surface Effect Ships) design is for the specific sites where transit distance and time suits. The SES vessel is signalling a change for the offshore market to move towards more specialised product that is aimed at solving unique challenges.”

 

The two existing vessels, which were also built by Umoe Mandal, have been in service in the offshore wind industry for several years and proved to be highly valuable assets for solving logistical challenges in demanding weather conditions.

 

“WMO has had the pleasure to be operating these unique vessels on behalf of the Umoe Group for several years, and we have seen the unique performances these vessels offer to the offshore wind industry. Feedback from offshore wind farm owners has been excellent. We have worked together with Umoe Mandal for a long time to meet Ørsted’s requirements for their UK east coast operation, and we are proud to see that WMO and Wavecraft Sprinter 28 is selected for this contract, said Hans Schneider, CEO of WMO.

 

Air-cushioned catamaran

All Wavecraft™ vessels are based on an air-cushion catamaran design, which guarantees rapid transit time, excellent seakeeping and passenger comfort, superior fuel economy and reduced environmental footprint. They are built in composite sandwich materials that enables up to 20-30 percent lower fuel consumption than for example aluminium vessels, with associated reduced emission levels.

 

Further, Wavecraft™ crew transfer vessels are equipped with a unique boarding control system (BCS™) which eliminates wave motions and allows transfer of personnel to the offshore turbines in waves up to 2.5mHs, allowing large operational window for offshore wind farm operators.

 

“The combination of 40-45 knots operating speed and our boarding control system means that wind farm operators can get a substantially higher number of operating hours out of every offshore technician. Not only do we cut the transit and infield sailing time by half versus traditional CTVs, but we also increase the operating window significantly. With offshore wind farms moving further offshore, often in rougher seas, we believe the industry is ready for a new generation of high-performance crew transfer vessels,” adds Tom Harald Svennevig.

 

The Wavecraft™ vessels of the Sprinter 28 design is 27.5 metres long and 10.4 metres wide. It carries up to 24 passengers, plus four crew.

 


The fastest crew transfer boats come the UK’s offshore wind industry.

 

 

The fastest crew transfer boats come the UK’s offshore wind industry.

Ørsted have commissioned three new vessels called Surface Effect Ships (SES) to improve the journey for technicians to turbines.

 

Ørsted, over the last couple of years, have trialled and investigated different options for transfer to the turbine, and today can reveal that three SES vessels have been signed for with World Marine Offshore.

 

The SES is twice as fast as a normal Crew Transfer Vessel, meaning Ørsted’s technicians will be able to get to turbines a lot quicker.

 

The new vessels have technology to help the waves pass under the vessel, with an air cushion that acts as a damper, ensuring much more stable transfers to and from the wind turbines. There is also 25% reduced fuel consumption compared to competing vessels in high speed.

 

The three vessels will be in operation on the East Coast of England from June 15th.  One will be on hire, with two being new builds for Ørsted.

 

Hans Schneider, CEO of World Marine Offshore: “We are excited to partner with Ørsted and in supplying the innovative SES technology. This secures a comfortable, safe, and fuel-efficient solution, and helps towards a lower Levelized Cost of Energy. From the early trials back in 2019-20 to now, we are at the exciting part of the process with delivering the fastest and most stable vessels in the wind industry”

 

The first SES vessel was deployed at a trial in Denmark back in early 2019. Assessing performance, talking to suppliers, and refining the design have led to a robust setup for our Race Bank wind farm where the SES vessels will replace the hotel like Service Operations Vessel currently operating the wind farm.

 

Mikkel Windolf, Senior Product Innovation Manager at Orsted: “Technology is constantly evolving and changing. However, vessel designs have remained relatively stable in the offshore wind business until now. The SES design is for the specific sites where transit distance and time suits. The SES vessel is signalling a change for the offshore market to move towards more specialised product that is aimed at solving unique challenges.”

 


Umoe Mandal to develop the next generation of hydrogen powered zero emission high speed vessels

TECO 2030 has received funding for developing the high-speed vessel of the future

(Lysaker, Norway, July 4th 2022)

TECO 2030 ASA (OSE: TECO) leads a consortium with partners Umoe Mandal and BLOM Maritime to develop a hydrogen powered high-speed vessel with zero emissions. The consortium will receive up to 5 million NOK in funding support. The vessel will combine the class-leading fuel cell systems from TECO 2030 and energy-efficient catamaran design with SES technology from Umoe Mandal. The vessel will have the capacity to transport 200-300 passengers at speeds above 35 knots while sailing over a longer distance.

In the project “High-speed vessel of the future”, the county municipalities of Finnmark, Nordland, Trøndelag and Vestland aims to develop groundbreaking technology in several areas. One of the technology segments is to develop, build and demonstrate the world’s first hydrogen-powered high-speed vessel. The consortium of TECO 2030, BLOM Maritime and Umoe Mandal is one of three qualified consortiums.

“We are humble and proud to be qualified for developing the high-speed vessel of the future, powered by hydrogen and TECO 2030 Fuel Cells. This proves our ability to lead advanced vessel developments and design either it is retrofit or newbuilds through our maritime expertise,” says Tore Enger, Group CEO, TECO 2030.

“Umoe Mandal has over 30 years of experience in delivering  light-weight and energy-efficient vessels, based on the SES (Surface Effect Ship) Technology. This includes the world’s fastest combat ship, the Skjold class corvette, and the Wavecraft CTV series for the offshore wind market. We are excited for this opportunity to develop and approve a hydrogen-powered zero-emission version of our vessels” says Tom Harald Svennevig, CEO, Umoe Mandal.

Way forward

The contract contains two phases, where the consortia in 2022 and 2023 will first develop and get their solutions approved. In the next phase, one supplier will be chosen to build and demonstrate the newly developed vessel. The vessel will be in pilot operation from 2025.

“By introducing hydrogen as an energy carrier for high-speed vessels, we can create the uncompromising high-speed vessel that can replace all current high-speed vessels in Norway,” says the county mayor in Nordland, Tomas Norvoll.


New order for top sections to UK T26 frigates

Under the contract, Umoe Mandal will construct and deliver the mast structure, including sponsons, doors, hatches and internal outfitting, plus bulwarks and life raft platforms to each of the five frigates.

“Building on the execution of the contract for the first three composite masts for the first three Type 26 frigates; to secure this second contract for deliveries to five new vessels, is something we are immensely proud of as it is the best possible confirmation that we deliver in line with BAE Systems’ extremely high standards,” says Tom Harald Svennevig, CEO of Umoe Mandal.

Umoe Mandal will construct and assemble all equipment at the company’s yard in Mandal, South Norway. Once completed, the equipment will be shipped to Glasgow, UK, where the frigates are being built. Umoe Mandal will deliver the equipment throughout the 2020s.

“We are pleased to have further strengthened our relationship with Umoe Mandal through securing the supply of a further 5 shipsets of equipment to the Type 26 programme and look forward to working closely with them to identify and develop value adding opportunities over the course of the Type 26 programme,” says Scott Robertson, Type 26 Head of Supply Chain.

 

Composite benefits

Umoe Mandal offers expert engineering solutions, intelligent materials, and bespoke production facilities for designing and building of advanced composite structures and high-performance vessels. For more than 30 years, Umoe Mandal has delivered custom composite structures built in accordance with demanding military specification to ensure highest performance and long application life.

The mast structures, bulwarks and life raft platforms that Umoe Mandal will supply to the five newbuild frigates will all be constructed from military-grade composite materials.

For modules that are installed high up on the vessel structure, using lightweight composite materials instead of steel contribute to enhancing the vessel’s seagoing characteristics, manoeuvrability and operating window. Installing the same structures in steel would require more ballast water to stabilise the vessel.

“Utilising advanced lightweight composites modules increase vessel stability as it reduces the centre of gravity and increases deadweight capacity, both of which enhance vessel performance. In addition, it reduces maintenance requirements and fuel consumption, which in turn helps to increase the vessels’ operating window,” says Are Søreng, vice president of sales & marketing at Umoe Mandal.

Type 26 City Class frigates

The Type 26 City class frigate is one of the world’s most advanced warships. It is designed for anti-submarine warfare, but is an adaptable vessel and able to quickly adapt for other purposes, for example to transport high volumes of humanitarian aid and house medical facilities.

Three Type 26 frigates are in build in Glasgow. First in Class, HMS Glasgow entered the water in December 2022 to be delivered to the Royal Navy in the mid-2020s.

The Commonwealths of Australia and Canada have selected the Type 26 design, which, together with the UK, provide an anticipated 32 ship programme across the three nations.

“The Type 26 frigates are important vessels for both the UK and NATO with regards to Euro-Atlantic security and security in the High North – areas that share marine boundaries with Norway. Being able to support this defence programme is therefore a proud moment for us at Umoe Mandal,” adds Tom Harald Svennevig.


New CEO at Umoe Mandal

“Tom Harald has headed up Umoe Mandal for seven years and been an important part of the company’s positive development in recent years. The board believes, however, that a management change and renewal is required to further develop the company and capitalize on the many opportunities ahead, especially within renewable energy and the defence industry,” says Jostein Eiesland, chairman of Umoe Mandal and CEO of the Umoe group.

Anders Nybø becomes temporary CEO of Umoe Mandal with effect from 19 June 2023. Nybø was CEO of Umoe Mandal from 2010 to 2013 and was subsequently a member of the company’s board of directors from 2013 to 2019. He has in recent years been the CEO of Faun Gruppen, which is one of Norway’s leading manufacturers of holiday cabins.

“Anders already knows every nook and cranny of the company as well as most of the many talented people at Umoe Mandal. We are very pleased that he was available to lead the company during a transition period until a permanent CEO is in place,” says Jostein Eiesland.

Umoe Mandal’s board of directors has commenced the process of finding a permanent CEO.

Tom Harald Svennevig has headed up Umoe Mandal since 2016.

– The board wants to thank Tom Harald for his efforts over all these years and wish him well for the next step of his career, Jostein Eiesland concludes.

 

For further information, please contact:

Jostein Eiesland, chairman, Umoe Mandal AS, tel: +47 970 80 445


Wavecraft Sprinter 28 by Umoe Mandal

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