New Baltic face: cranes, hotels and taxis

Marine wind farms are no longer a futuristic vision – they are investments that are supposed to feed our houses with electricity from the Baltic. The first installation and service ships begin to appear on the horizon, and in the following assembly seasons there will be only more.

Because in the coming seasons in the Baltic we will see a movement that has never been in our waters. On the horizon there will be jack-ups resembling space platforms, CSOV units looking like hotels on the water and high-speed CTV – sea taxis for tech crews. They will create a new landscape of the Polish sea. In this guide, I will give you a hint of what to look for from the beach and how to recognize ships that will build and operateoffshore wind farms.

Jack-up and floating service hotels

I was prompted to write this text by simple observation – more and more sea wind farms are spoken of, but there are still no pictorial descriptions of ships that will become their facilities. It is these units that will work in the Baltic in the coming years, so that in two years our first households will be supplied with energy from the sea.

The most characteristic of the horizon will be the jack-up units – specialized installation ships for the assembly of turbines and foundations. Their hull with a huge crane seems to float above the water, because it is actually standing on steel legs deep into the seabed. Thanks to this construction, the ship turns into a stable assembly platform. A good example isVoltaire– with a crane with a load capacity of 3200 tons and legs reaching 130 meters. It is these "legs" that you will see from the beach the easiest, even from many kilometres.

Next to the jack-ups there will be service units – real floating hotels. On their decks there are cabins, workshops and warehouses, and the distinguishing sign remains the walk-to-work bridge. It is a moving trap that compensates for swinging and allows safe passage of servicemen to the turbine. CSOVs support assembly and start-up of farms, and SOVs are responsible for daily service. They are easily recognized by the extended superstructure and distinctive colours – e.g. the orange fleet units of Edda Wind.

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It also includesWINDEA Clausius – modern CSOV, whose hull was built in the Gdynia shipyard Crist, and the whole was completed in the Norwegian Ulstein Verft. The ship was designed according to the design of SX222, with a characteristic TWIN X-STERN system improving maneuverability and reducing fuel consumption. It was equipped with a crane with active compensation for sea movements, adjustable trap integrated with an elevator tower and a "boat landing" system for CTV units. This is an example that the Polish shipbuilding industry finds its place in the global supply chain of modern offshore ships.

From CTV to cable cables – everyday life on the horizon

As jack-up ships and service "hotels" stand on the horizon as big constructions from the space film, smaller, faster units orbit the surrounding waters.That's CTV.– sea taxis for a team of technicians. Slender catamarans or single hulls 20–30 metres in length can fly through the waves like speedboats. Their task is simple: to get people off the service base and put them straight to the turbine. Most often, the bow is supported by the foundation, and the crew climbs the ladder like a trapeze to the plane. Newer constructions like Damen FCS 7011 with Ampelmann system, however, do so in the Hollywood style – they break down the moving walk-to-work bridge, which stabilizes despite the wave and allows you to walk like a stationary bridge. From the shore of CTV, they look like silver lines rushing towards the farm.

Another character is cable cables – slow but crucial for the energy backbone of the Baltic. They look less spectacular: wide hull, long stern, aboard guides and technical arms. However, there are giant drums with kilometers of wires in the hold. These are the ships that will connect turbines to land. Latest units, likeLeonardo da VinciPrysmian groups, they can arrange cables for hundreds of kilometers and immediately bury them in the seabed. From the beach you will see them as heavy silhouettes slowly flowing through the horizon – like trains in the sea version, only that underwater they leave a trail of energy.

Where and when the Baltic landscape will change

Will you see jack-ups and hotel service today? Only to a limited extent. Poland is only entering the assembly phase, but the first signs of movement of installation units at sea are already visible. Orlen, along with Northland Power, began construction of Baltic Power – a farm is built about 23 kilometres from the shore in the area of Łeba and Choczev. This means that in the upcoming installation seasons, the first large units will appear on the horizon, including cable, jack-ups and CSOV service ships.

The most will happen betweenHead and mouth– it is part of the sea where Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 will be formed. Here the distance from shore is about 40 kilometres, but in clear weather you will see characteristic silhouettes, especially high jack-ups with raised legs.

It's also worth a closer look at the ports. The service base is already in operation in ŁebaBaltic Power, which means regular courses of CTV units and first wraps of larger auxiliary ships. Wladyslawowo is to be the base for the BC Wind project, which is why the movement will also be increasing there. However, the main show will start when the weather window opens the assembly season – then on the horizon we will see the first truly spectacular paintings.

Baltic as a science fiction film

In the coming years the Polish Baltic will change its face. The sea, which has so far been associated mainly with ferry traffic and commercial ships, will become a stage for a new kind of unit – from powerful jack-ups and service CSOVs to fast CTVs and cable cables.Each of these shipswill play its role in a great national project to build offshore wind farms.

From the beach perspective, it will look like a piece of the science fiction film: steel "forest" of installation legs will appear on the horizon, between ports there will be a "fast" taxi of technicians, and cable cables will slowly leave under water an energy trail of the future. This is how the new landscape of the Baltic – a construction site that will soon become a symbol of the energy transformation of our country.

Written by Mariusz Dasiewicz