PRESS RELEASE – Bernhard Schulte Offshore GmbH and MidOcean Wind LLC have entered into a joint venture to build and operate support vessels for the U.S. offshore wind industry and explore opportunities in other sectors of U.S. merchant shipping.

Signed during the AWEA Offshore Windpower 2019 Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, the Connecticut-based joint venture signals a new chapter of cooperation between Bernard Schulte Offshore and MidOcean Wind, which began in late 2018 when the two parties partnered in Windea Offshore US to provide a single point of contact for offshore wind customers in the US.

Volckert van Reesema, co-founder and principal of MidOcean Wind, pointed out: “We have been following the successes of the Schulte Group for some time now and recognise they share the same business values and focus on long-term partnerships. Their experience in the operation of offshore wind vessels is needed to support this upcoming new industry in the U.S.”

Matthias Müller, Managing Director of Bernard Schulte Offshore, explained: ” The Schulte Group has a track record of more than 550 new-building projects around the globe and MidOcean is a specialist at building vessels of various types under the local regulations in several U.S. shipyards. Since the on-time delivery of a vessel to our charterers is critical, we are the ideal partners to support the U.S. offshore wind industry with specialised units.”

MidOcean Wind (MOW) is a subsidiary of MidOcean Marine, a privately-owned company specializing in niche U.S. Flag maritime projects.

Designed to act as a single point of contact for offshore wind customers, Windea Offshore USA mirrors the efforts of the established German entity Windea Offshore, which provides a full suite of services for construction support and O&M activities. The German company is a joint venture of three family-owned companies, Bernhard Schulte Offshore, Buss Offshore Solutions, and EMS Maritime Offshore.