Presentation at the ISO Offshore Wind Seminar on 27 June by Michael Prehn, Deputy Director (Danish Maritime), CESA

1. Michael Prehn,
Deputy director Danish Maritime
Member of CESA
International Standards for Offshore Wind Farm Vessel
10-08-12 1

2. Introduction and Background
 Offshore Wind Energy is an emerging market
generating specific transport and erection tasks on or
beyond the continental shelf.
 Ships and offshore structures, such as Offshore Wind
Farm Construction Vessels and Service Crafts, could
be purpose build or converted.
 These designs deviate from existing ship types
currently employed in the offshore oil and gas sector,
such as MODU and OSV.

3. Offshore Windparks in Europa – January 2011

4. Offshore Wind Energy Outlook 2025
DK
1 GW
DK

5. European Offshore Wind Energy Market
 Installed power of European wind farms could rise to
48 GW in 2020;
 Availability of offshore vessels and platforms is
a prerequisite for the timely execution of this ambitious
development plan;
 VSM and KPMG estimate a demand of 37 erection
vessels and 117 service vessels units by 2020;
 European scenario will be surpassed by similar
developments in other emerging offshore wind energy
markets world-wide.

6. Proposal to IMO:
10-08-12 6

7. Problems identified
 Only a minority of ships serving the construction and
maintenance of offshore wind farms are purpose built.
 Among the existing service vessels some are only
marginally converted or adapted to perform their new
function in a very demanding environment.
 Lack of international guidance on minimum
requirements for safety and environment protection
resulted in significant variations in the safety levels.

8. Need for an International Approach
 Ships, shipyards and climate change are global;
 Provide uniform Safety standards world-wide in order
to ensure a level playing field avoiding market
distortions (Regulators perspective);
 Promote Environment Protection by providing
appropriate regulatory base for the exploitation of
renewable energy sources (Political perspective);
 Shipyards operate globally and therefore need legal
certainty for their investments and innovation activities
(Industry perspective).

9. Progress through Co-operation
 CESA recommends a proactive regulatory initiative;
 Dialogue with all stakeholders;
 No definitive answers to all safety aspects;
 Further aspects have to be considered, including an
appropriate distinction between new and existing
vessel types.

10. Offshore Wind Farm Construction Vessel
Van Oord / Sietas

11. Construction Vessels for Offshore
Wind Farms
 are designed to carry out foundation work, tower and
turbine installation as well as maintenance work during
the operation phase;
 are either ship shaped or barge type and can be both
self-propelled or without propulsion;
 are in often characterized by self-elevating or jack-up
systems; and
 can be manned by a considerable number of crew
members and special personnel.

12. Summary of main recommendations
 OWFCV can be regulated by Guidelines defining the
application of requirements from the SPS Code;
 the MODU Code could be used for intact stability;
 The construction workers carried on board should be
considered as special personnel, not as passengers.
OWFCV means a mechanically self-propelled vessel,
which is primarily engaged in foundation work, tower
and turbine installation and maintenance work,
equipped with a self-elevating or jack-up system and
carrying special personnel.
These Guidelines are not applied additionally to vessels
meeting the MODU Code

13. Offshore Wind Farm Service Crafts
SWATH / A&R

14. Offshore Wind Farm Service Crafts
 Due to specific operational profile, design peculiarities
and unusual composition of the person on board
OWFSC have to be considered as a new and
unconventional ship type.
 OWFSC are carrying personnel and cargo at relatively
high speed on short national or international voyages.
 They can be characterized as a specific type of cargo
carrying High Speed Craft.

15. Annex 2 - OWFSC should regulated within/by the following
limitations and requirements:
 Cargo ship < 500 GT regardless of length;
 with < 60 persons on board including maritime crew;
 2000 HSC Code for cargo craft applies as interpreted by the DNV
“Tentative Rules for Service Craft, January 2012”;
 Health and Basic Safety Certificate acc. to STCW / Category A offshore
personnel acc. to Res. A.891(21);
 Without cabins up to 12 h operation time; and
 LSA in acc. with Ch. 8 of the SPS Code.

16. The service and maintenance technicians carried are:
 able bodied with a fair knowledge of the craft, safety procedures and the
handling of safety equipment;
 acting independently in emergency and do not require special assistance
from the crew;
 not regularly assigned to the craft, are on board for a limited period of
time only and have no tasks in the normal operation of the craft (Res.
A.891(21));
 a special category of personnel not fully compatible with existing
definitions in IMO instruments.

17. Definition of persons onboard in IMO Instruments:
SP ≤ 12

18. Offshore Wind Farm Service Crafts
Summary
and Outlook
SWATH / A&R

19. Proposals contained in DE 56/12
 Develop suitable classification of offshore wind farm
vessels with special consideration of erection and
service vessels;
 Develop non-mandatory guidelines clarifying the
application of existing IMO instruments to these type
of vessels;
 Clarify the status of the specialized personnel carried
on-board; and
 Define appropriate training and certification provisions
for the special personnel.

20. The initiative was supported, DE 56 agreed:
 that there was no need for the development of a
separate Code for wind farm vessels;
 that there is an urgent need to (…) consider the
application of existing IMO instruments to OWFCV and
OWFSC (…) and to (…) clarify the application of
relevant requirements concerning industrial personnel
transported by sea;
 to a focal point (UK) to collect concrete proposals for
DE 57.

21. The way forward
 Development of a structure incorporating the
proposals for erection vessels and service
crafts;
 Guidelines for Design and Construction of
Offshore Wind Farm Support Vessels;
 containing separate recommendations for the
two new ship types in a Part A and B;

22. Can we
do this
better ?