Offshore installation giant Subsea 7 has informed that the merger between its offshore wind subsidiary Seaway 7 and offshore and heavy lift vessel owner OHT has been completed.
Subsequent to the combination, first proposed in July 2021, OHT ASA will be re-named Seaway 7 ASA. Subsea 7's subsidiary Subsea 7 Blue Space Limited holds 72% of the merged company Seaway 7, and OHT’s shareholders 28%.
The merged company, focused on offshore wind installation, will be managed by an executive team led by Stuart Fitzgerald as Chief Executive Officer, previously Subsea 7's Executive Vice President - Alliances and Strategy.
Torgeir E. Ramstad, CEO of OHT, will be appointed EVP Vessels and Offshore Resources at Seaway 7. Steph McNeill, Subsea 7 EVP Renewables, will be Chief Operating Officer, Harke Jan Meek, Chief Commercial Officer, and Mark Hodgkinson, Chief Financial Officer.
The two companies said in July the transaction would create a pure-play renewables company focused on the fixed-bottom offshore wind market.
The company will be a single supplier providing a range of standalone, integrated, or EPCI offerings encompassing installation of wind turbines, foundations, offshore substations, submarine cables, and heavy transport, the duo said.
Seaway 7 will have 600 employees and an active fleet of ten vessels and two further high-specification wind installation vessels being built for OHT, including the Alfa Lift, a giant wind turbine foundation installation vessel. The other vessel is a hi-spec wind turbine installation vessel, ordered last year.
Apart from offshore wind installation vessels under construction, OHT brings to Seaway 7 a fleet of five heavy transportation vessels, increasingly deployed to transport large offshore wind structures.
Commenting on the merger, Stuart Fitzgerald, incoming CEO of Seaway 7, said: "We are very pleased to reach this milestone and begin operations as the newly combined Seaway 7 Group. The industrial logic of the combination, which strengthens and broadens our offering, whilst adding differentiated assets to a market leading capability and track record, has been well understood by our clients, investors and employees. We look forward to positioning Seaway 7 as one of the market leaders in the delivery of bottom-fixed offshore wind farm solutions, contributing to an efficient and sustainable energy supply for the future.”
