UK Mooring Specialist Enters Japanese Floating Wind Market

Moorings specialist First Marine Solutions has signed a collaboration agreement with Horizon Ocean Management (HOM), a joint venture between Mitsui and Hokutaku, for the development of mooring strategy-related services for the floating offshore wind sector in Japan.

The agreement between the companies also entails providing consultancy services for the installation and O&M phase, mooring installation support, and O&M services, including monitoring, inspection, and repair.

FMS’ experience in the offshore wind field has included key roles in several renewable energy projects for major developers, as well as participation in landmark projects for ORE Catapult, the UK's leading innovation and research centre for offshore renewable energy. On the other hand, HOM has established itself within the supply chain of offshore wind industry in Japan.

“We believe that floating wind will become a popular choice in Japan in the near future, with full-scale development of floating offshore wind power generation expected. In the meantime, in addition to the development of supply chains, it will be essential to acquire engineering capabilities for offshore and subsea applications.

“The alliance with First Marine Solutions, which already provides mooring services for floating structures across the offshore energy sector, including floating offshore wind, is indispensable in providing the capabilities demanded by the Japanese offshore wind industry,” said Nobuyuki Takagi. Takagi, President of HOM.

“The logical next step for us was to expand into new territories and we quickly identified Japan as a key market. HOM is the perfect partner for us, given the compelling combination of Mitsui and Hokutaku,” added Steven Brown, Managing Director of First Marine Solutions.