The Bremen-headquartered group has launched a sister company to its heavy lift shipping company SAL Heavy Lift which will focus on offshore maintenance and installation of wind turbines and their corresponding components.

To that end the also Bremen-based SAL Renewables has acquired Wind Lift I, a 2010-built dynamic positioning (DP) jack-up vessel equipped with a 500t of lifting capacity crane as well as accommodation for up to 50 people. The ship was recently deployed by SAL for a hydraulic hammer test as part of an offshore wind project in the North Sea.

In addition, the company holds access to the offshore DP2 heavy lift ship Blue Giant.

"Wind power has been a cornerstone of our business in the past few years, and we continue to see significant projects here. The world's demand for energy is higher than ever before, and a major energy transition is currently underway. The projects resulting from this change are crucial to our business," Dr. Martin Harren, Managing Director, Harren & Partner, commented.

He further explained, "SAL Renewables is a perfect supplement to our established logistics business, but also something new. By offering maintenance and component installation services predominantly for the wind turbines themselves, we are expanding our total service offerings to the global renewables market while also meeting the toughest individual demands and expectations in the offshore markets."

Matthieu Moerman, Head of Projects, SAL Renewables, added, "Megawatts capacity of wind parks keep increasing and old wind parks will need to be renewed with new turbines or decommissioned. With Wind Lift I we are not only targeting the installation and maintenance market but also decommissioning and upgrading of old existing wind parks."

Photo: Harren & Partner/SAL Renewables