Belgian shipowner DEME is to reflag one of its wind turbine installation vessels (WTIV) under the Japanese flag to target Japan's growing offshore wind market.
The DP2-rated Sea Challenger (built 2014) is currently registered in Denmark but is expected to move to Japan to start work by 2025.
DEME said the vessel is set to undergo a major upgrade, preparing it for the first round of offshore wind farm projects in Japan.
"The investments in new technology will ensure the company is ready for the future and to become an offshore wind industry leader in the Japanese market," DEME said.
The reflagging of the vessel is part of DEME's recent formation of Japan Offshore Marine (JOM), a company jointly owned with Japan's Penta-Ocean Construction
Through JOM, both partners said they are committed to taking a pioneer position in the fast-developing Japanese offshore wind market.
In early 2019 Penta-Ocean Construction took delivery of CP-8001, the first Japanese multipurpose self-elevating platform equipped with a fully revolving crane.
Dutch specialist GustoMSC supervised the basic design and Japan Marine United Corp undertook the construction of the vessel, which is homeported in the Port of Kitakyushu.
"JOM combines DEME Offshore's marine engineering knowledge and decades of experience in the renewables sector, with the knowledge and highly specialised marine construction technology of Penta-Ocean," DEME said.
"We are confident that through JOM we will be able to combine our extensive experience and expertise in offshore wind construction and marine civil engineering, to lead the growing offshore wind farm construction market in Japan," said Penta-Ocean Construction chief executive Takuzo Shimizu.
"JOM's new challenge begins with overcoming Japan's challenging natural conditions such as harsh metocean conditions, earthquakes and complex soil conditions."
Luc Vandenbulcke, chief executive of DEME Group, said: "Japanese projects will be marked by complex seabed conditions, which means that drilling expertise will be vital for becoming successful in Japan.
"We are very excited to be able to make a significant contribution to the long-term development of the offshore wind sector and to help Japan fulfil its ambitions."
DEME said Japan has ambitious targets to develop 10 GW of offshore wind power by 2030.
