A joint venture of Inverlussa Marine Services and Mainprize Offshore has secured a contract to provide offshore support during the construction of Dong Energy’s 580MW Race Bank wind farm, situated off the North Norfolk Coast.

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The contract will run for two-and-a-half year and will see an Inverlussa team and its Helen Mary vessel working out of Grimsby.

The works will include guard-asset protection, dive support, supply of fuel, water and spares, maintaining meteorological bouys, clearing debris and emergency tug.

The Helen Mary vessel includes a 150T/M crane, triple propulsion, four point anchoring for dive support, and a large deck which is able to carry six 20 foot containers.

Inverlussa Marine Services managing director Ben Wilson said: "Winning this major contract is a great start to our expansion into the renewables sector.

"There was a lot of competition from very experienced European vessel operators for this contract, but our vessel offered something very different from the normal guard vessel.

The Race Bank wind farm will feature 91 turbines of 6MW, with Siemens Wind Power being the preferred supplier.

Located about 16.8 miles off Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk coast, the wind farm covers an area of about 75km2.

The Race Bank project, which will span about 29 square miles, is expected to start operations by 2018. It will deliver enough energy for more than 500,000 homes per year.


Image: The 580MW Race Bank offshore wind farm will deliver enough energy for over 500,000 homes in the UK. Photo: courtesy of DONG Energy.