The Netherlands: Van Oord Renews Order from Sietas

Van Oord renews order for an offshore wind power transport and installation vessel from Sietas with option on a second ship.

The deal is perfect and Sietas will be the first German shipyard to build an offshore wind power transport and installation vessel. The order was placed by Van Oord of the Netherlands, a reputed and globally active hydraulic engineering company, and was renewed today in Hamburg after the Sietas shipyard had been unable to continue with the order originally placed in 2010 due to the terms of its insolvency proceedings. Delivery of the complex vessel is planned for early 2013. The parties have agreed to keep the purchase price secret. Van Oord has also secured an option on a second ship of the same type.

Receiver Berthold Brinkmann: “This order is a bridge into a new future for the Sietas shipyard. I am pleased that we were able to successfully conclude negotiations with our client Van Oord within a short time. The offshore wind power transport and installation vessel is a first in Germany, and points the way forward for Sietas and German shipbuilding.”

Senator Frank Horch, Hamburg’s Minister of Economy, Transport and Innovation: “Today’s order from Van Oord for an offshore wind power transport and installation vessel based on a Sietas design is a huge leap into the future, despite the shipbuilder’s insolvency. The Hamburg Senate remains convinced of the ability of the Sietas shipyard to survive and of this opportunity for Hamburg to benefit from the opening of the market in the offshore wind power sector. The Senate, as well as myself, consider it important to support Sietas in its efforts to retain as many jobs as possible.”

The Sietas shipyard and its Neuenfelder Maschinenfabrik (NMF) subsidiary will develop and build the installation vessel and offshore crane from one source as architect and integrator. Rüdiger Fuchs, agent for the receiver: “We have worked for one entire year to be the first German shipyard to develop this vessel. It was always our goal to construct and deliver the installation vessel here in Hamburg. This wish has now come true.”

This also settles the order book for the Sietas shipyard in the coming months. Berthold Brinkmann: “The liquidator and management will work at full steam in finding an investor for the entire Sietas group, consisting of the Sietas shipyard, NMF and Norderwerft, and in obtaining more orders for special ships.”

About the offshore wind power transport and installation ship

The Sietas “jack-up vessel”, as the offshore wind turbine transport and installation ship is known in the industry, was developed for use far from the coast in offshore wind fields. It has a transport capacity of up to 6,500 tons (tdw) and can work safely in water depths of up to 45 m. Thanks to its self-loading capacity and jacking system, which keep it stable even in choppy seas, it can work fast and reliably.

The type 187 special ship is 139 m long and 38 m wide. It has a draught of 5.70 m and a speed of 12 knots. The Neuenfelder Maschinenfabrik (NMF), which also belongs to the Sietas Group, will equip the ship with an offshore special crane which can lift a 900-ton load with a reach of 30 m and work at a height of about 120 m above the water. The installation ship will accommodate 74 crew members during its deployment in wind energy fields.

Background to the current situation of the Sietas shipyard

In addition to the Van Oord new construction order for the offshore wind power transport and installation ship, construction of a RoPax ferry (delivery May 2012) and a dredger (delivery August 2012) will continue in the Sietas shipyard as part of the debtor-in-possession financing.

Thanks to these orders, the Sietas shipyard can utilise the capacity of its workforce longer. The Sietas Group will then have the following estimated workforce in mid-2012: new construction shipyard 375 employees (plus trainees), Neuenfelder Maschinenfabrik (NMF) 127 employees, repair company Norderwerft 90 employees. Future developments depend on the entry of a new investor and the future order book.

Conceptionally, the reorientation of the shipyard, focused on the design and construction of sophisticated special construction ships, will continue. Specifically this involves dredgers, heavy lifters, “stone-layers” and construction vessels for offshore wind power turbines. Rüdiger Fuchs: “We worked for these products and for market access. The objective is to carry out two new constructions annually. At the same time, our strong engineering division is to realise one new construction annually for the Sietas shipyard and a basic design for the external market.”