First of 10 support ships for North Sea wind farms arrives
- Published
The first of a fleet of specially designed support vessels for the giant wind farms planned for the North Sea has arrived in Norfolk.
The Ginny Louise will carry construction and maintenance crews to wind farms off the coasts of Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Essex.
Its first port of call was Harwich in Essex where it was fitted out and it is now moored at Great Yarmouth.
Owner's Tidal Transit are planning to have nine more vessels built.
Ginny Louise will next visit Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk and then Grimsby in Humberside for further trials at both ports.
She has a crew of four and 12 passenger berths with a kitchen, bathroom, internet and entertainment facilities.
She has been designed to work in rough seas common off the East Anglian coast and wind farm engineers will be able to live and work on-site over several days.
Leo Hambro, Tidal Transit commercial director, said: "With the UK constructing ever larger offshore wind farms to help meet the world's need for clean energy, I believe that our vessels will quickly become the preferred form of transport for wind farm crews."