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platforms,” the company asserts.

Her jack-up “sister ship”, Voltaire — ordered in 2019 — is also available for both wind and petro-work, as it, too, wields a massive crane and is being marketed for offshore heavy lifts and decommissioning.

So, just as it was for deepwater oil and gas innovations now helping wind, “green-only” lending is available for new wind workhorses able to ply offshore oil and gas. “The fact that both new vessels will mainly work for the renew- able energy sector, and are both equipped with an advanced exhaust gas treatment system, ensures that these invest- ments were eligible for a green loan,” a statement from the company said, while Group offshore director, Philippe

Hutse, af? rmed that, “We have ? nanced this investment by means of a green loan thanks to the (exhaust ? lter system) on board the vessel.”

Unlike some rig newbuilds these days, the project easily got a consortium of ? ve banks aboard the heavy lift vessel new-build: KBC Bank, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING Luxem- bourg, Rabobank and Bel? us Bank. For KBC, “it is the ? rst syndicated green loan within the shipping sector.”

It’s all reminiscent of Norwegian rig-builders and the days (20 years ago) when bottomless Norwegian ? nance gave suppliers here a lift in the Brazilian deepwater market.

Now, green loans may help green vessels into new markets.

Though legless, the Les Alizes might have a leg up in the burgeoning Asian offshore wind segment, and perhaps its offshore oil and gas segment, too. The supersized vessel will deliver in 2022 from CMHI Haimen shipyard in Nan- tong City, China.

“We highlight China and the United Kingdom as global wind- power outperformers, with (China) set to register by far the fastest capacity expansion globally,” an article by

Fitch Solutions stated in November. Mexico, however, is

Fitch’s “wind power market to watch” over 2020 for its highly competitive auctions.

So, add Mexican wind to the list of cross-over markets for offshore ? eet owners.

The Author

Stoichevski

William Stoichevski is MR’s correspondent in Norway. He has written thousands of offshore-focused reports from his North Sea vantage point. He started writing for Maritime Reporter & Engi- neering News in 2014, and Offshore Engineer in 2018.

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