Globetech was onboard Aqua Maløy during her stay in Stavanger last week, located at Konserthuskaia. Four newbuilt offshore wind support vessels owned by IWS Fleet will be equipped with state-of-the-art IT solutions from Globetech.
"This marks our entry into the offshore wind industry. We are thrilled to join a growing market for offshore renewables. Our goal is to become a preferred supplier of IT infrastructure to these specialized vessels,” says Hans Eirik Onarheim, CEO at Globetech.
IWS has contracted delivery of four ships which are now being built at the Chinese shipyard China Merchants Heavy Industry. The contract includes an option for two additional ships. All four ships are sized and equipped to contribute to both the construction and lifelong maintenance of offshore wind turbines.
IWS was established in 2020 by the Awilco Group, which boasts more than 80 years of experience from shipping projects and offshore operations. IWS aims to take a share in the rapidly growing market for maintenance and service operations in the offshore wind sector.
The hybrid ships will be among the first in the industry capable of zero-emission operations, according to IWS. Designed by Kongsberg Maritime, the ships will be equipped with large battery packs and solar panels for additional charging.
DIGITAL HIGHWAY
Globetech will equip the ships with digital highways that ensure robust and fast IT services onboard. The system was designed, and the delivery planned in cooperation with IWS, well before the construction of the ships started, according to Espen Tolfsen, Chief Procurement Officer at Globetech.
"We designed the entire IT structure, including switches and connection points. The client has requested extra good wifi coverage on the entire ship. Enabling a crew of 100 people to connect to the system via laptops requires lots of connection points,” says Tolfsen.
Globetech also supplies all servers and printers to the ships.
The management of IWS and Awilco is well familiar with Globetech, which has supplied IT equipment and support to several Awilco oil and gas vessels.
LONG-TERM COLLABORATION
Øyvind Rasmussen, HSEQ manager at IWS, is happy to have Globetech onboard as an IT supplier.
“Our collaboration with Globetech goes back many years. Globetech have always performed well by delivering tailor-made solutions. For this particular delivery, they have been involved since the design stage. We feel certain that Globetech will produce an IT system well adapted to our needs and easy to maintain", says Rasmussen.
Two of the four ships are scheduled to be delivered in 2023, and the last two in 2024. Each ship costs approximately NOK 470 million.
