Global Maritime’s reputation and track record in the field of Marine Warranty Surveyor (MWS) services for floating wind projects is unrivalled. With four decades of experience gained in the provision of marine consultancy and engineering services, within the energy and marine sectors, the question arises: How does this wealth of MWS expertise prove beneficial when addressing the ongoing challenges of the floating wind industry and delivering solutions for our clients?
Global Maritime’s Pivotal Role in the Energy Sector
In the realm of Floating Offshore Wind (FOW), our track record is unmatched, marked by our involvement in landmark projects, including the world’s first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland. We provided support to Equinor throughout the subsequent phases of their pioneering Hywind Tampen project, the largest floating offshore wind farm. Additionally, our expertise extends to floating projects spanning Europe, the US and Taiwan.
One of Global Maritime’s core strengths and capabilities is our capacity to seamlessly apply the knowledge acquired in design and engineering, marine advisory, and marine operations, from all the sectors we operate in (energy, aquaculture, shipping, and renewable energy), into the technical specificities of floating wind.
The ability to transfer gathered added value from different industry streams to new developments, is what sets us apart within the FOW industry. Whether it pertains to dynamic positioning, ocean fish farm design or floating wind, we bring a wealth of experience to each project we support.
Addressing the Challenges
With an industry that is still in its infancy there are bound to be unique challenges. There are three main challenges facing the FOW sector:
- A lack of tried and tested solutions - with no precedents, limited executed projects and limited available onsite data, the industry cannot rely on existing solutions and technical standards to de-risk floating wind projects. Global Maritime can bridge this gap as we are contributing to the solution process using a wide range of technologies, methodologies, and equipment.
- New geographies - floating wind can thrive in geographic locations that are positioned to become future offshore industry hubs. However, solutions found in the North Sea may not be applicable to the West Coast of the USA, Australia or South Korea. Besides, the requirements for large-scale industrial production in these areas are yet to be defined.
- Interface risk - innovative technologies such as floating wind, require the solutions of multiple suppliers across the market all collaborating under a multi-contract approach. This approach elevates the interface risks where varying working standards or scope gaps can be the cause of incidents, cost creep and project delays. As independent third-party providers responsible for overseeing marine operations on projects,, Global Maritime will have an overview of the entire transport and installation process, ensuring consistent compliance to relevant industry practices throughout the project.
With an eye always looking to innovation and change, we focus on all developments and changes when it comes to the industry addressing the challenges facing floating wind projects, and we aim to be at the forefront of this.
In 2021, in response to cable failures accounting for 80 percent of offshore wind insurance claims, the Joint National Resources Committee (JNRC) issued an MWS scope of work and code of practice dedicated to FOW and expanded the MWS prerogatives to manufacturing of the subsea power cables. In 2023, Global Maritime was actively engaged in conversation with the JNRC regarding the qualification of the scope to optimise the added value to the project, and to increase efficiency in the implementation of the new measures.
Meeting the Challenges of the Sea
Our unwavering commitment to meeting new challenges of the sea is the driving force behind Global Maritime's leadership in the emerging field of FOW, which extends throughout our entire organization. Our CEO, Jonny Logan, actively participated in on-site operations during the installation of the Kincardine FOW project, while our project teams consistently exceed expectations to secure opportunities in groundbreaking initiatives like DemoSATH, contributing to a more sustainable future.
Global Maritime’s structure, policies and guidelines are built around our role as independent third-party contractors for MWS. We are well recognised in the industry for this guarantee of independence combined with our corporate values (Truthful, Innovative, Value Adding and Competent). These are the sources of our track record in delivering reliable risk reduction, cost control and value for money for our clients.
Our ability to develop and manage relationships with project owners, contractors, lenders, and insurance providers makes us stand out as the partner of choice to provide technical assurance throughout the life cycle of breakthrough technologies. From concept to installation and decommissioning to early-stage geoscience or port and infrastructure studies through to FEED, detail design and marine operations, our passion and continual commitment to excellence is what makes us stand out from our competitors.
