“K” Line Wind Service Ltd. (KWS), a joint venture company between Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (“K” Line) and Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisha Ltd., have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Penta-Ocean Construction Co. Ltd. (POC) regarding future collaboration on vessel management in the offshore wind construction and maintenance fields,
In Japan, offshore wind power is expected to increase its supply capacity as a major source of renewable energy to commit to carbon neutrality by 2050. In this context, the entire country is witnessing a surge in momentum for offshore wind construction.
POC currently intends to own three offshore installation vessels in total, including Japan’s first offshore installation vessel equipped with a large crane, CP-8001 (800t lifting capacity, operating since 2019). The offshore installation vessel CP-16001 has a 1,600-ton lifting capacity and is scheduled to start operations in March 2023. It is currently under joint construction with Kajima Corp. and Yorigami Maritime Construction Co. Ltd. The third offshore installation vessel, Sea Challenger is being upgraded to a 1,600-ton lifting capacity and is scheduled to start operations in spring 2025. It will be owned by Japan Offshore Marine Co. Ltd. (JOM). JOM is a joint venture company between POC and a Belgian-based company DEME Offshore Ltd.
KWS was established in June 2021 as a joint venture between Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. and Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisha Ltd. to contribute to the field of offshore wind construction and maintenance works. Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisha and POC have been building a cooperative relationship through the construction and operation of the offshore support vessel KAIKO (6,000 hp, operating since 2021) for POC’s CP-8001.
POC, a marine civil engineering and offshore wind construction company, and KWS, which operates carriers and offshore support vessels as a member company of the Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Group, will collaborate on the operations, maintenance and crewing management of vessels used in offshore wind construction and maintenance works.
POC will outsource to KWS reflagging the foreign-flagged offshore installation vessels to be owned by the subsidiary, JOM, to Japanese register, and subsequent management of vessel operation, maintenance works and crewing. POC will also utilize offshore support vessels owned by KWS. In addition, both companies will cooperatively investigate the construction and co-ownership of the service operation vessel (SOV) and others required for operations and maintenance (O&M) works after the start of wind farm operations.
