SEP Vessel Seajacks Zaratan Starts Foundation Work on Akita/Noshiro Wind Farm

April 28, 2021

TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) today announced that the Self-Elevating Platform (SEP) vessel (*1) Seajacks Zaratan-owned by the Japanese subsidiary of Seajacks International Limited Group (Seajacks; President: William Burton Blair Ainslie; Headquarters: Norfolk, U.K.) in which MOL has acquired a stake-called at the Port of Akita on April 16, 2021.

The vessel will start installation work of the foundation of Japan's first large-scale commercial windfarm project in a couple of days, in development by the Akita Offshore Wind Corporation (President and CEO: Keiji Okagaki; Headquarters: Akita-shi, Akita Prefecture), at the ports of Akita and Noshiro under a contract between the Japanese subsidiary of Seajacks and Kajima Corporation (President and Representative Director: Yoshikazu Oshimi; Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo), which is handling the installation of windmills and foundations.

The MOL Group continually promotes and develops environment and emission-free business activities including the offshore wind farm business (*2) in a proactive manner, striving to reduce the environmental impact of its operations.

(*1) SEP: Self-Elevating Platform. The platform is equipped with legs that rest on the seabed and move up and down. The vessel installs offshore wind turbine with a crane by moving the platform above the sea surface. By raising and maintaining the platform higher than the waves, the SEP vessel can operate even in rough seas. It can be used not only to install offshore wind turbine, but also to support maintenance work of offshore oil and gas rigs.

Please refer to February 24, 2017 press release for MOL Group's participation in SEP vessel business: MOL to Invest in Self-Elevating Platform Vessel Operator - Moving into Offshore Business Following FPSO, FSRU, Shuttle Tanker, and Subsea Support Vessel -

(*2) Please refer to the April 17, 2020 press release for MOL Group-participated SOV(Service Operation Vessel) specially designed to support maintenance of offshore wind farms: MOL Signs Asia's 1st Service Operation Vessel Time Charterer and Ship Building Contract for Greater Changhua Wind Farms in Taiwan