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Williams begin Vestas blade transport

By: Matthew White 24/04/2018 Williams Shipping

General

Williams Shipping, a Southampton based company, has been begun transporting the 82m turbine blades for MHI Vestas.

The MHI Vestas blades have been manufactured at its facility on the Isle of Wight since 2015, with serial production commencing in 2017. The facility is expected to produce around 150 blades per year.

At 82m long the blades cannot be transported by road and are instead transported by barge, from the Isle of Wight, to the painting facility, and then on to international docks for shipping overseas.

To carry out this task, a new design of blade transport barge was created. Self-powered, these 76m barges are designed to work in the shallow waters around the Solent, with an unloaded draught of 0.65m and a loaded draft of 0.75m.

As well as managing operation of the vessels, Williams will also be managing the stevedoring with cranes installed at local sites on the Isle of Wight, Fawley and Portsmouth Docks.

It was invited to tender for the contract in late 2017 and the contract was awarded early in 2018. The blade transport barge was delivered to Williams’ marine base at Southampton Dock Gate 4 in early April.

Philip Williams, Director of Marine at Williams Shipping commented, “We’re really pleased to get started on this contract. We have spent some time getting all the equipment and people set up and the arrival of the blade barges was the final stage. MHI Vestas’ ongoing investment has been great for the area and we are glad we can play a part in building the wind energy industry on the south coast.”

The blade running contract runs for two years initially, but is expected to be ongoing.

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Williams begin Vestas blade transport

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