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Dry dock manufacturer Tugdock claims to have created the “world’s first road-transportable floating dry dock”, which it calls the Tugdock submersible platform. The UK-based firm signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gazelle to pursue its use in floating wind development together.
Ireland-based Gazelle manufactures its own semi-submersible, triangular floating platform, which it says can be deployed faster than other models — in part because its modular components can be assembled without the use of specialist cranes or vessels.
Jon Salazar, CEO of Gazelle Wind Power, said the collaboration with Tugdock was an ideal fit for Gazelle’s unique platform concept.
“Working with Tugdock, we have the ideal way to assemble our modular platform, using minimal port space. While the Gazelle platform possesses a naturally low draft, there are significant benefits to assembling the modules on the Tugdock platform, which doubles as the assembly fixture and launch method, speeding up platform assembly and getting our platform into the water in a safe, and cost-effective way,” he said.
Floating wind remains in its infancy compared to both onshore and fixed-bottom foundations offshore wind turbines.
However it is expected to become more prevalent with the development of wind energy in deep-water offshore locations around the world, from Japan to Portugal.
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