INVERLUSSA MARINE SERVICES WINS CONTRACT TO PROVIDE THE WORLD’S LARGEST OFFSHORE WIND FARM DEVELOPER WITH MULTI PURPOSE SUPPORT VESSEL.

Inverlussa Marine Services, in a joint venture with Mainprize Offshore Ltd, has been awarded a two-and-a-half-year, multi-million-pound contract to provide offshore support during the construction phase of the Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm. The wind farm being built by Dong Energy is located 28km off the east coast of England.

The Inverlussa team and vessel will work out of Grimsby and perform a number of roles. These include: guard-asset protection; dive support; supply of fuel, food, water and spares; maintenance of meterlogical buoys; debris clearance; and emergency tug.

This work will be carried out on the specially designed and built ship “Helen Mary”. This unique vessel was built in the Macduff shipyards, Aberdeenshire. It has several special features which made it suitable for this contract, including a 150T/M crane, triple propulsion, 4 point anchoring for dive support, and a large deck which is able to carry six 20ft containers. The vessel also features high redundance across most systems ensuring less downtime than other vessels.

The “Helen Mary” was built as part of a £3.5m investment to allow Inverlussa Marine to expand into the renewables sector. Through this expansion, the company has been able to hire nine new members of staff, taking the total head count to around 50.

Ben Wilson, Managing Director, Inverlussa Marine Services, said: “Winning this major contract is a great start to our expansion into the renewables sector. There was a lot of competition from very experienced European vessel operators for this contract, but our vessel offered something very different from the normal guard vessel. We look forward to working with Dong Energy and Mainprize Offshore Ltd on this project.” 

Bob Mainprize, Managing Director, Mainprize Offshore Ltd, said: “The award of this contract is fantastic news for UK service providers. It further proves that Dong is doing everything within its power to provide local content. In order to reduce the cost of renewable energy, the cheapest option is not always the most cost effective, and only with the vision of companies like Dong, who are willing to look outside the box, will we be able to drive the cost of renewable energy down further. We look forward to providing a cost effective, efficient, safe service.” 

Jason Ledden, Construction Project Manager for Race Bank at DONG Energy, said: 

“DONG Energy is absolutely committed to using UK suppliers whenever possible and we are very happy to be working with Inverlussa Marine Services and Mainprize Offshore Ltd on our Race Bank project.

"Race Bank is a significant offshore wind farm which will be capable of powering over half a million UK homes, and these two UK companies will play a vital role in construction. It's also really encouraging to hear this contract has led to new staff being taken on at Inverlussa Marine Services and has helped the business kick-start its expansion into the renewables sector."