Asia-first newbuild Service Operation Vessel for the offshore wind industry was delivered earlier this week at the VARD Vung Tau shipyard in Vietnam.
The Taiwan-flagged SOV has been built for owner Ta San Shang Marine Co., Ltd, a joint venture between Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL) and Ta Tong Marine Co., Ltd. (TTM).
The vessel will soon sail to Taiwan and once the vessel is ready for operation, it will be chartered to offshore wind developer Ørsted for a period of 15 years.
The TSS Pioneer will support the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a ƶijϻ Wind Farms, the first large-scale and far shore wind farms in Taiwan, which are being constructed by Ørsted.
"She will provide optimal offshore working conditions, and via its walk-to-work gangway, ensure safe access onto the wind turbines for the O&M technicians," VARD said.
The vessel 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.