Final Bluefort Transfer at Wikinger as Charter Concludes

After more than 20,000 incident free transfers, MV Bluefort has departed the German North Sea’s Wikinger project for the final time as its seven-month contract comes to a close.

Since March the offshore wind industry’s largest floatel has provided accommodation for thousands of technicians commuting by crew transfer vessels (CTVs) to commission the 70 Adwen turbines at the Iberdrola-owned Wikinger Offshore Wind Farm, located 30 kilometers north-east of the German island of Rugen.

Last week the final technician to call Bluefort home departed the 142m vessel which, during the contract increased its accommodation capacity from 200 to 250 people and improved its boat landing to take the largest CTVs on the market.

The Bridgemans Services Group LP (BSG) vessel has been on site approximately 35 nautical miles from the German coast or in the Port of Sassnitz for crew changes throughout the charter.

BSG President Brian Grange said: “Prior to the charter, we had spent almost six months and €6 million on a complete refit to ensure the vessel was able to more than meet the needs of the offshore wind sector.

“Each project brings with it new specifications and requirements so we were thrilled that Bluefort proved to be so flexible and versatile on the Wikinger project, particularly with our ability to land six different CTV types.”

As well as providing a home-away-from-home for turbine technicians, the vessel was also used for helicopter training drills and emergency response exercises, enabling the ship’s crew to go through operations and implement best practice processes.

“We also helped with a real-life emergency situation when we provided transport and medical support to a nearby yacht which sent out a distress call,” he added.

MV Bluefort will now berth in Grenaa Port in Denmark for some further internal upgrades and improvements over the winter.

The vessel is represented by global shipbroker Clarksons Platou’s Offshore Renewables team.

Clarkson Platou’s David Matthews added: “BSG’s Bluefort really proved herself with this project, being able to scale up to allow 250 people to be comfortably onboard and facilitating rapid transfer rates – getting up to 150 turbine technicians into the field each day. The vessel is a bona fide flagship for the offshore wind sector.”