Rix Sea Shuttle sails away with £2m contract from Norwegian energy firm Statoil

Hull-based Rix Sea Shuttle has sailed away with a contract worth more than £2m to supply crew transfer vessels to a wind farm off the coast of Norfolk.

As contracted by Norwegian oil-major Statoil, the Rix Leopard and Rix Lion will carry technicians to and from the Dudgeon wind farm which is currently under construction around 20 miles offshore from Cromer.

The shuttle business secured the contract due to a number of factors including the size and type of vessel.

The Rix Leopard, which is the newest and biggest wind farm service vessel in Rix Sea Shuttle’s fleet, can carry a crew of 24 technicians and the Lion carries 12. Each vessel will operate for seven days at a time, using Great Yarmouth as the base port.

The work is set to get underway in August and will run for 14 months.

The contract, which has an option to extend, was brokered by Surrey-based Derrick Offshore & Kristiansand-based Pareto JGO Shipbrokers (Shipbrokers in the Pareto Group).

James Doyle, managing director of Rix Sea Shuttle, said: “We are very pleased to have won the contract with Statoil. It was a hard fought tender but the quality and size of our vessels prevailed.

“The Leopard is one of the biggest working in the crew transfer market today. Our expertise and service, and assistance from Derrick Offshore and Pareto JGO Shipbrokers, came together to form a very strong pitch.

“The Dudgeon wind farm is a very exciting development and we are extremely pleased to be a part of it. It is fantastic news for Norfolk, bringing a thriving industry and jobs to the region, and the UK renewables industry as a whole.”

The Dudgeon offshore windfarm is a joint venture that is owned by Statoil, Statkraft and Masdar.

The £1.5bn, 402MW windfarm is expected to start generating electricity in early 2017 and will provide power to around 410,000 UK homes.