Peter Schwartzbach’s recent one-month visit to the Far East, in connection with offshore wind developments in the region, certainly wasn’t his first Asian excursion for A2SEA. And most likely, it won’t be his last. Continue reading
Asian expertise
Steady as she goes
Heavy lift supervisor Gaynor Horner hails from Northern Ireland, just outside Belfast. He has been lifting around the world for the past 20 years, including lengthy periods in Oman, Dubai, and the North Sea.
These days, you’ll find him on board SEA WORKER, keeping a watchful eye (“Like a hawk”) on every lifting task, but he has also worked with SEA JACK back in 2011, and more recently with SEA INSTALLER during mobilisation in the Netherlands. Continue reading
The Every day, Everyone team
By Steen H. Drue, Project Manager, A2SEA A/S
“Where there’s a team, there’s a way.” At least, that’s how the more traditional saying might have sounded if it had originated on the job at Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm in the Irish Sea. Actually, there’s not just one team involved, but several, all working together. Continue reading
Report from Gwynt y Môr
By Steen Drue, Project Manager, A2SEA A/S
Turbine installation work at Gwynt y Môr began on April 30 when SEA JACK started work loading components for the very first of 160 turbine locations. Seven weeks later, SEA WORKER departed from Grenaa, Denmark, headed for the port of Mostyn to join the installation teamwork. In June, the two vessels began working ”side-by-side”, although, in reality, they only occasionally pass each other on the water. Continue reading
Teamwork can be tough
By Tony Millward, Senior Project Manager, A2SEA A/S
Complex geotechnics, a tight, seven-month winter project, and a client whose programme called for multiple, simultaneous vessel operations. With demands like these, the Anholt project needed as much as it could get of that magic ingredient: teamwork. And its steep learning curves meant, however, that the A2SEA team was under plenty of pressure. Continue reading
Customers talk about challenges
With offshore wind developments in the UK currently generating more power than the rest of Europe combined, and a strong pipeline of projects planned for the coming decade, offshore wind has become a major element in the UK energy mix.
In the Irish Sea, home to two of the Round 3 zones, locating a harbour with enough storage capacity to stock huge turbines and foundations, and deep enough for large installation vessels to operate, were two major challenges facing both DONG Energy and RWE. Continue reading
Celebrating turbine no. 70 at London Array
The crews of SEA JACK and SEA WORKER recently celebrated the completion of A2SEA’s involvement in the London Array Offshore Wind Farm, the world’s first 1GW offshore wind farm. A2SEA was contracted to install monopiles, transition pieces and 70 Siemens 3.6 MW turbines for Phase 1 of the 175-turbine site. Continue reading
More than meets the eye
To the untrained eye, the jack-up vessels that perform heavy wind farm maintenance and construction work may look pretty much alike. Comparing tech specs seems like a good way to assess what each vessel can do, but appearances and specifications don’t tell the whole story. To find out what really sets one jack-up vessel apart from another, we spoke to Torben Vinkel, Master of SEA WORKER, one of A2SEA’s purpose-built jack-up vessels. Continue reading