First of Two SOVs Built by China's ZPMC for France's LDA Launched

en.Wedoany.com Reported - The first offshore wind service operation vessel (SOV), "Wind of Ocean," designed and built by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) for France's Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LD Armateurs, LDA), was launched at ZPMC's marine engineering facility. The vessel will now proceed to the outfitting, key equipment installation, system integration, and commissioning stages, followed by sea trials, with delivery planned for 2027 and deployment in North Sea offshore wind farm operations.

"Wind of Ocean" has an overall length of 90 meters, a molded breadth of 19.6 meters, and a molded depth of 7.3 meters. It can accommodate 96 technical and operations personnel, with a self-sufficiency of over 30 days. Designed to meet unlimited navigation area requirements, the vessel is capable of long-term operations under the complex sea conditions of the North Sea. The propulsion system adopts a hybrid solution combining diesel-electric and lithium battery power, and is equipped with a DP2 dynamic positioning system, a 3D motion-compensated crane, and a wave-compensated gangway for the transfer of personnel, tools, and spare parts during offshore wind turbine maintenance operations.

The vessel was jointly designed and developed by LDA and SALT Ship Design, featuring a twin-bow arrangement and four azimuth thrusters, allowing it to change its primary operating direction without turning around. On March 26, 2026, the keel was laid at ZPMC; on June 30, the main hull was fully joined; and on August 30, the vessel reached the launching milestone, forming a construction timeline of "keel laying—main hull joining—launching—outfitting and system commissioning."

The project comprises two SOVs, with the keel of the second vessel, "Wind of Energy," already laid. Both vessels are intended for Vattenfall's offshore wind operations. "Wind of Ocean" is scheduled to enter service at the DanTysk and Sandbank wind farms in the German North Sea in mid-2027, each with an installed capacity of 288 MW. "Wind of Energy" is planned to be delivered to the Nordlicht 1 and Nordlicht 2 projects before the end of 2027, with installed capacities of 980 MW and 630 MW, respectively.

According to Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries' 2025 annual report, the company signed a contract with LDA for the construction of two offshore wind service operation vessels, marking ZPMC's first entry into the European wind farm service vessel market. The two vessels correspond to project numbers ZPMC1159 and ZPMC1160. ZPMC's 2026 outfitting engineering tender documents divide the outfitting installation work for both vessels into two packages, with the relevant works scheduled for completion by February 28, 2027.