A2Sea acquires Jumping Jack

Wind turbine installation contractor A2Sea has acquired the Jumping Jack installation barge from Dutch offshore contractor Mammoet Van Oord. A2Sea, headquartered in Denmark, can now install foundations and topsides for larger turbines, up to 5 MW.

The jack up barge and related assets were acquired for an undisclosed sum.

Adding Jumping Jack to the existing A2Sea fleet of two vessels will mean flexibility to bid for more offshore contracts using the vessels separately or in combination. Mammoet Van Oord will charter the Jumping Jack from A2SEA to complete existing contracts.

“The acquisition makes A2Sea the largest and most experienced contractor in the offshore wind farm business. We can now, with the new acquisition, bid for more demanding projects than A2Sea or Mammoet Van Oord could alone. It also allows us to broaden the range of services we can offer, including better coverage on the UK west coast where activity levels are increasing,” said Kaj Lindvig, A2Sea CEO.

A2Sea forecasts that its turnover will triple over the next few years and reach more than DKK300 million (US$52 million) by 2008. Its two existing vessels are booked for 17 months of work out of the possible 24 of the next two years. Sea Power is working on the Danish Horns Rev wind farm for five months and from August will be on the Lillgrund project while Sea Energy will be on the Dutch Q7 project for four months (See News, IC February).

Jumping Jack has a 1,300 tonne capacity (to 18 m radius) Manitowoc Model M1200 lattice boom Ringer crane with a maximum boom length of 122.8 m. The vessel is 91.2 by 33.0 m and has a 4,000 tonne jacking payload. Maximum operating water depth is 37 m and jacking can be done in seas up to 1.5 m significant wave height.