SeaRoc Charters MPI Adventure to Install NOAH in Blyth (UK)

International marine engineering company SeaRoc confirm that it will charter MPI Adventure to install Narec’s Offshore Anemometry Hub (NOAH), scheduled to take place in October 2012.

SeaRoc Operations Director Toby Mead confirmed the Charter Party had been signed and commented: “MPI Adventure is a state of the art vessel coming into this project off the back of a very successful installation campaign at London Array; we consequently feel the NOAH installation is in very safe hands.”

SeaRoc was recently awarded the contract to complete the mast installation, 3 nautical miles off the coast of Blyth, consisting of a 635t tripod foundation, 100t platform and 25t meteorological mast; on completion it will provide site wind speed measurements alongside the already installed ZephIR 300 wind lidar, supplied by sister company Zephir Ltd.

The platform will collect the necessary environmental data to inform the development, construction and operation of the proposed Blyth Offshore Wind Demonstration Site and will be equipped with a variety of monitoring sensors.

Strategic Investment Funding of Ł18.5m was awarded to the Narec project by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in February 2010. An additional Ł4.35 million was awarded to the project in March 2010 from One North East’s Single Programme Fund, to bring the total available funding to Ł22.85m.

The project is managed by Turner & Townsend as part of Narec’s overall programme portfolio, providing turnkey project management and full design services through the entire project lifecycle.

MPI Adventure is a dedicated vessel to transport, lift and install wind turbines and their foundations; delivered in March 2011 (Qidong, China) she is the second of MPI’s three jack up vessels, her predeccessor being the 2003 built MPI Resolution, the world’s first bespoke turbine installation vessel. The Fleet and MPI are all part of the Vroon Group.

MPI Offshore Project Manager David Robinson added: “We very much look forward to working with SeaRoc on this challenging project which utilises Adventure to her full potential. She is one of very few vessels on the market capable of installing the 635t tripod in the water depths concerned and will as such be a great asset to the project.”