Germany's Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency awards Fugro multi-year framework contract for geotechnical investigation of North Sea offshore wind

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 5, Germany's Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) awarded a multi-year offshore geotechnical investigation framework contract to Dutch marine survey company Fugro. The investigation area is located in the German North Sea and serves the development and tendering of future offshore wind farm sites. The contract covers offshore drilling, seabed cone penetration testing and geotechnical laboratory testing. Preparatory work has already begun, and on-site investigation is scheduled to start in mid-March 2027.

Under the contract, Fugro will deploy specialized geotechnical drilling vessels and seabed cone penetration test (CPT) vessels to collect seabed and subsurface stratigraphic data in planned development areas of the German North Sea. The on-site work involves different vessel types working in coordination to carry out borehole sampling and in-situ geotechnical testing, producing geotechnical investigation data for use by subsequent developers.

The collected geotechnical samples will be sent to Fugro laboratories in Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom for testing. Contract execution will be jointly undertaken by Fugro's Dutch and German marine business teams. The teams from the two countries will be responsible for allocating offshore investigation resources and implementing the project, while the laboratories will provide corresponding sample analysis and testing services.

The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, as the procuring entity for this framework agreement, may place specific service orders as needed from the date of contract award. The geotechnical data and laboratory test results obtained will be used in the subsequent tendering and development phases of offshore wind farm sites, providing developers intending to participate in the projects with information on seabed and subsurface stratigraphic conditions.

Erik Vogt, Project Director at Fugro Germany, said that the company's bid for this project configured dedicated geotechnical drilling vessels and seabed cone penetration testing equipment. Sven Plasman, Chief Commercial Manager of Fugro's Dutch marine business, said that teams from Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom jointly participated in preparing the contract proposal, and that the subsequent investigation plan will be implemented drawing on its cross-border marine engineering and laboratory resources.