First Marine Solutions Enters Japanese Floating Offshore Wind Market with Business Collaboration Agreement

A landmark Business Collaboration Agreement has been agreed between global mooring solutions expert, First Marine Solutions and Horizon Ocean Management, Ltd. (HOM) - a subsidiary joint venture between Japanese industrial giant, Mitsui and the country’s leading turbine maintenance company, Hokutaku.

The Agreement will see the development of mooring strategy-related services for the floating offshore wind power sector in Japan, providing consultancy services (installation and O&M phase), mooring installation support, and O&M services (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.

HOM has already established a unique position within the supply chain of offshore wind industry in Japan. Together with FMS’ position as the energy industry’s pre-eminent mooring service provider, the collaboration delivers a powerful world-class proposition to provide an integrated mooring service including design and engineering, optimisation of windfarm layout, building installation, inspection and repair strategy, and mooring procedures.

Mr. Takagi, President of HOM, commented: “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. We have been in discussions with First Marine Solutions since last year and are very pleased to be working with them in Japan. We believe this alliance will help to quickly establish mooring installation and O&M capabilities to the Japanese floating offshore wind sector.”

Steven Brown, Managing Director of First Marine Solutions, commented: “We are delighted to be working with HOM and the eminent companies that it comprises. FMS has developed a strong track record in the floating offshore wind market since the inception of our dedicated renewables consultancy in 2020; this combined with our decades’ of experience in the design, supply and installation of mooring systems in the oil and gas industry makes our offering truly unique.

“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. The addition of our mooring design and installation services naturally complements the market leading O&M services they already supply and we are truly excited to help develop the floating offshore wind sector in Japan.”

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