Louis Dreyfus Orders TTS Equipment for Hornsea Two SOV

Business & Finance

Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) has contracted TTS Group to provide an equipment package for its second service operations vessel (SOV) destined to operate for Ørsted.

The newbuild Wind of Hope, designed by Salt Ship Design, will feature a TTS Colibri crane together with the new walk-to-work gangway, TTS Horizon.

According to TTS, the equipment package also includes the removal of the operator cabins. Instead, the crane and gangway will be remotely controlled from Phoenix.

“Phoenix is the first step in our roadmap towards autonomous operations for offshore vessels,” said Mette Harv, Executive Vice President BU Energy at TTS.

“Traditionally, the operator has been bound to sitting in a cabin mounted on or near the equipment. With Phoenix the operator can control the equipment in a far more accurate, efficient and safe manner. Phoenix can be located anywhere on the vessel and from the same chair; the operator can control the crane, gangway, cargo logistics system or any other complex deck machinery on-board.”

The first Colibri crane was recently installed onboard Wind of Change, LDA’s first SOV for Ørsted, which is due to enter service next year. The vessel will operate on Ørsted’s Borkum Riffgrund 1 & 2 and Gode Wind 1 & 2 wind farms offshore Germany.

Earlier this year, LDA selected ABB technology for Wind of Hope, which will include the power distribution system Onboard DC GridTM at its core and will allow integration of batteries to the vessel’s hybrid power system.

Once delivered in 2021, Wind of Hope will service Ørsted’s Hornsea Project Two offshore wind project in the UK.