Northumberland offshore engineering firm completes project for Japanese “giant”

Offshore engineering and technology company Osbit has completed its first project for Shimizu, following the delivery of a bespoke walk to work access system for the company’s new-build offshore jack-up vessel for offshore wind constructions.

The gangway will be installed on-board as a permanent asset, greatly enhancing the vessel’s capability.

Providing access from the vessel to turbine transition pieces, the variable height gangway is an evolution of Osbit’s existing offshore access capability and has been specially designed to suit Shimizu’s requirements.

Designed at its Riding Mill office and manufactured by Alucor in the United Arab Emirates, Northumberland based Osbit completed the project in 38 weeks. The gangway was supplied to the customer on April 27 and then transported from the UAE to Japan, where the vessel will be mobilised.

Phil Pennington, who was Osbit’s responsible director for the project, commented: “It has been great collaborating closely with Shimizu to deliver this project and I am incredibly proud of the team, not only for producing such high quality in a remote location but during a global pandemic when the shipping market was in turmoil.

“It’s a fantastic effort from all involved and we really pulled together to overcome a range of market and logistical challenges.

“This project is of major importance in the world wind market as globally we look to meet the increasing demands for greener ways of generating power – to satisfy the growing population and meet the Japanese government’s aims to install more wind turbines.

“We hope to get involved with more innovative projects with Shimizu in the future and look forward to sharing more details as the project continues to progress.”