Strela Shiprepair Yard as a service provider for offshore wind energy / New repair yard with order boom at workboats

Crew transfer vessels (CTVs) are among the busiest workboats in the offshore wind energy sector in the southern Baltic Sea. They commute between the service harbours and the wind farms at sea. Their intensive use results in a correspondingly high need for maintenance and repair. Since last year, the shipowners of the workboats have been taking advantage of the opportunity to have the vessels overhauled at the Strela Shiprepair Yard in Stralsund. The first workboats were docked at the Volkswerft Maritime Industrial and Commercial Park, where Strela Shiprepair Yard is based, in mid-2023.

Shiprepair_Workboat_EF:
Now a familiar sight at Strela Shiprepair Yard in Stralsund, workboats are used to
transport people to the offshore wind farms off Rügen.
Photo: HansePhotoStralsund/Fraede

“Stralsund’s proximity to the offshore wind farms, especially off the coast of Rügen, means short distances combined with comprehensive service for shipowners,” says Oliver Schepers, Managing Director of Strela Shiprepair Yard, commenting on the sharp rise in incoming orders within a short space of time. Eight CTVs have already been successfully serviced and repaired since March 2023. Further enquiries have been received, says the manager. The workboat “Njord Balder” by Njord Offshore was recently docked. The vessels, most of which are designed as catamarans, are primarily used for maintenance work on the propulsion technology and for repainting.

The Stralsund-based company wants to establish itself as a service provider for the growing offshore wind energy sector on the north-east German coast and continuously expand its position. Last year, the “Strela Workboats” division was set up at short notice. “It is part of our corporate strategy to react flexibly and adapt our operations to changing requirements,” emphasises Managing Director Schepers. The “Harbour & Voyage Repairs” department was also created for this reason. Working teams of up to ten technicians travel to ships in mainly Northern European harbours and carry out repair and maintenance work on site. The shipyard is interested in recruiting further mechanical engineers and project managers with experience in the field of repairs to be able to cope with the wide range of tasks and future economic growth.

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Recently docked for maintenance at Strela Shiprepair Yard: the workboat “Fjord
Balder” from the shipping company Fjord Offshore.
Photo: HansePhotoStralsund/Fraede

Strela Shiprepair GmbH was founded in April 2022 and started operations at the beginning of 2023. Strela Shiprepair Yard is located on the site of the former Volkswerft shipyard in Stralsund, now the Volkswerft Maritime Industrial and Commercial Park. The repair yard maintains and repairs a wide variety of ship types, including coasters, specialised and passenger ships and workboats. Among other things, the company has a ship lift, powerful crane and shipyard technology and a 720 metre shipyard quay with a crane capacity of over 100 tonnes. Strela Shiprepair currently employs 45 people.
Source: Strela Shiprepair Yard