German shipping and logistics group Harren & Partner has acquired the jack-up vessel Thor from DEME, expanding its fleet four highly sophisticated offshore ships.

Thor is a 2010-built dynamic positioning (DP2) jack-up crane vessel ideal for maintenance projects at offshore wind energy plants as well as wind turbine installations. With a 500-t capacity, a high-outreach offshore crane and a fully equipped accommodation block for up to 56 people, this highly versatile vessel also has a strong track record. Thor is 107.82 metres long and sails under the Madeiran flag.

Heiko Felderhoff, managing director of the Harren & Partner Group that includes brands such as SAL Heavy Lift, SAL Engineering, Intermarine  and Combi Lift, said, “We are very happy that we were able to finalise this acquisition. Thor is a modern ship with a flexible economic design. A valuable addition to our fleet, she underlines our growth ambitions in the rapidly expanding market for offshore wind energy.”

The Harren & Partner fleet now consists of four offshore construction units, the DP2 offshore construction and heavy lift vessel Mexican Giant, the DP3 offshore construction heavy lift twin-gantry catamaran VB-10,000 (US flag, Jones Act compliant) and the two jack-up vessels, Wind Lift I (DP1) and Thor.

The fleet is designed to provide full turnkey major component exchanges for the offshore wind industry. Together with its partners, OWS Off-Shore Wind Solutions and Wind Multiplikator (co-investor) – also part of the ARGE N1 joint venture – Harren & Partner will deploy Thor for major component exchange services at the Nordsee One wind farm. Thor will also support other wind farms later in the year.

Nordsee One is an offshore wind farm in the German part of the North Sea. Commissioned in 2017, it has a nameplate capacity of 332 MW. Nordsee One uses 54 Senvion 6.2M126 wind turbines that produce 1,200 GWh of electricity annually.

Martin Harren, CEO of the Harren & Partner Group, underlined the importance of the renewables sector for the entire group, “Wind energy has been a cornerstone of our business in recent years, and we are determined to further expand and strengthen our contribution to the ongoing energy transition. By providing maintenance and installation services, we bring a comprehensive range of services to the renewable energy market while meeting the highest standards and expectations of these clients.”