Ship-naming ceremony of "Windea Four" at the renovated "Port Knock"

The Landemole at the Emden Knock was taken over in 2000 by AG "EMS" after the Federal Government no longer had need of the landing stage for washing up dredged material. Bernhard Brons, Chair of AG EMS explains this move as follows: “Because the plans for the Dollart port did not come to fruition, we came upon the idea of being able to offer a further location for summer shipping traffic with catamarans and excursion ships, which could also be used for other purposes”. Due to the strategic position, one particular field of utilisation emerged a few years later, as the demand for a location in which to load heavy haulage for the offshore sector increased. After five years’ expansion and reinforcement, AG "EMS" and EMO were able to inaugurate the “Port Knock”. “We have not only renovated the Landemole Knock, but have also strengthened it sustainably for further utilisation. The installation was raised in height by 1.2 m to a total of 4.2 m above sea level, to improve its resilience against flooding. The load?bearing capacity was also increased for heavy loads. This is now our largest investment; in total, we have invested over EUR 3.5 mio. into the Knock“, explains Brons. The key was officially presented by Wilfried Schmeling from Ingenieurberatung Bröggelhoff GmbH, the engineering office supporting the project, and Stefan Kalvelage from Ludwig Freytag, the commissioned construction company based in Oldenburg. Today, during the inauguration of the Landemole Knock in Emden, the Minister of Economic Affairs for Lower Saxony, Olaf Lies, underlined the importance of the Emder port.
Minister Olaf Lies said in his speech: “Our ports represent the focal point for Germany as an industrial location. Here the Emden port plays a major role. In order to secure the competitiveness of the Emden port we are investing approximately EUR 21 mio. into it in 2016. The now-strengthened Port Knock landing stage has created another attractive transit point for the offshore wind industry. This is an extremely important step. One thing is clear: due to its optimum length, Emden is a good starting point for the offshore wind farm in the North Sea. With the landing stage, we are continuing to expand the potential of the Emder port. This means that Emden can offer possibilities for construction of an appropriate service base for offshore companies and the creation of new workplaces”. Knut Gerdes, Managing Director of Ems Maritime Offshore GmbH, also sees opportunities for the Emden location: “As service provider for offshore wind farms, we are constantly forced to consider changes occurring on the market. We expect a strong demand for service bases for offshore wind farms, and consider the conditions at this location to be ideal for the purpose”. This last also explains the activities of the EMO fleet. Having deployed both a water taxi and the multi-purpose ship “MIRANDA” at the end of April in Eemshaven in the Netherlands, two further special ships are to be added. The SWATH “Windea FIVE” was constructed in the year 2010 by the Abeking & Rasmussen shipyard under the construction supervision of AG "EMS" for use in the offshore wind farm “BARD Offshore I”. “We have accompanied the CTV “Natalia Bekker” from the very beginning and took on the fitting-out work; in this regard the ship already belonged to our own fleet“, reveals Knut Gerdes, Managing Director of EMO. In future, the CTV is to be integrated into the EMO fleet as the “WINDEA FIVE”.
EMO, which is based in Emden, a subsidiary of AG "EMS", the SSC Wind EMEA GmbH from Wildeshausen and Van Laar Beheer BV from IJmuiden in the Netherlands, are all involved in the WINDEA FIVE. Through this mutual commitment, the cooperation, which has been in existence for years, has been further expanded. ”Since the commissioning of the first ship in September 2013, the crew transfer vessel did not go one day without employment. This fact speaks both for the technical concept of the ships and for the good performance of the nautical crew”, explains Paul van Laar, the owner of van Laar Maritime. The outstanding seagoing characteristics permit deployment and transfer onto offshore wind installations at wave heights of up to 2.5 metres, a significant figure. The new name was given by State Parliament Member Hans?Dieter Haase (SPD) from Emden and MdL State Parliament Member Bernd?Carsten Hiebing (CDU) from Haren. Both work in the state subcommittee for ports and shipping, and emphasised that the State of Lower Saxony must continue to ensure sufficient financial support for the expansion of the infrastructure. The consistently growing demand in the field of offshore wind farm supply regarding personnel and materials was also the reason for further investments to be made in a newly-constructed ship. With the “Windea FOUR”, a catamaran fresh from the shipyard was officially inaugurated for service. The “Strat Cat”, originating from Strategic Marine, an Australian shipyard, has a draught of only 1.60 m and can travel at speeds of up to 30 kn. The CTV can thus provide a good speed if a wind power installation has to be reached quickly. Particular value has been placed on the comfort for passengers. Up to 24 passengers – generally offshore technicians - can be accommodated in generously-sized reclining seats. The name-giver, the Secretary of State Almut Kottwitz, wished the ship and its crew the following: “Always a safe journey and always a hand’s width of water under the keel”! In her ceremonial address, the Secretary of State emphasised that an offshore base on the Rysumer Nacken and ships moving under the German flag represented further important development modules for a sustainable national and Europe?wide energy policy.

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The SSC Group is able to incorporate its special expertise in the field of offshore wind plant construction and service into the WINDEA offshore plant. Here the SSC Group leans on experience gathered in more than 1,000 erected wind power plants, seven of which were offshore projects, for which SSC provided most of the offshore personnel and the site management. The preparation and loading of the installations on land is also included within the scope of services. Today, the SSC-Wind EMEA G employs more than 300 employees across Europe; more than 150 of them are deployed in Germany.
Van Laar Beheer BV has owned and operated traffic control ships on an international level since 1925. The fleet comprises more than 25 vehicles, two of these co?owned with the EMS Maritime Offshore GmbH. The company has over 200 employees worldwide.