LOTOS Petrobaltic has signed a contract with Polish design bureau Seatech Engineering for the design of a vessel to transport offshore wind farm service personnel. This is an important step in the creation of a fleet of vessels serving Polish offshore wind. According to the company's plans, three such vessels will eventually be built.

- I'm glad that as a result of LOTOS Petrobaltic's procurement process, the best offer, both in terms of price and deadline, was presented by the Polish design office Seatech Engineering. This is a company with many years of experience in the shipbuilding industry. The requirements we set for the designer are difficult and in many elements very innovative. We expect the design of a Crew Transfer Vessel to meet the expectations of the demanding offshore wind industry for both environmentally friendly propulsion and high seaworthiness, as well as high comfort for traveling technicians. I am sure that the experience and competence of the engineers working in the Seatech design office selected by Petrobaltic are a guarantee for the preparation of the documentation of the vessel that the entire offshore wind industry is waiting for," says Grzegorz Strzelczyk, CEO of LOTOS Petrobaltic S.A.

The design work will consist of 2 phases: a contract design, for the purpose of pricing the shipyards' construction of the vessel, and a classification design, which will ultimately be delivered to the selected shipyard for implementation. The proposed crew transfer vessel (CTV) is an aluminum catamaran between 25 and 30 meters in length, which will be designed to transfer technical personnel (up to 24 people), along with the necessary equipment, between the service port and the offshore wind farm. In addition, the vessel will provide support for service operation vessels (SOVs) operating in the area of the farms, thereby increasing the ability to service the turbines. The vessel will be designed to operate in the Baltic and other European seas up to a maximum distance of 150 nautical miles from the service port. It will allow operations at wave heights of up to 1.75 meters. The maximum draft of the ship will be about 1.6 meters, and the maximum speed will be 24 knots.

The agreement between LOTOS Petrobaltic and Seatech Engineering is another document signed this week regarding the creation of CTV units. Earlier, LOTOS Petrobaltic signed an agreement on cooperation in the construction and securing financing for Poland's first specialized vessels to support offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea with the Industrial Development Agency. According to the agreement, a designated company from the Industrial Development Agency Group will solicit bids from shipyards for the construction of 3 such vessels, obtain financing, and then deliver the already completed vessels and give them to LOTOS Petrobaltic for bareboat charter (i.e. without crew). On LOTOS Petrobaltic's side is the delivery of the design, which will be carried out by Seatech Engineering. The vessels are to be commissioned in 2025-2026 and will be chartered for maintenance work on offshore wind farms.

LOTOS Petrobaltic S.A. of the ORLEN Group is the only Polish mining company engaged in the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas deposits on the Polish Baltic Sea shelf, comprehensive offshore logistics services, as well as marine exploration and fleet management. It is the shipowner and operator of oil rigs and production centers, as well as a fleet of specialized vessels. For 30 years, LOTOS Petrobaltic has been successfully operating in this extremely difficult field of offshore mining, extracting oil and gas from under the sea floor and contributing to Poland's energy security. The company is also developing new lines of business related to offshore wind energy, CCS and hydrogen projects.

Seatech Engineering Sp. z o.o. is a team of qualified and experienced marine engineers and architects, specializing in projects for the shipbuilding industry. The office's core business is focused on medium-sized vessel projects for the broader maritime industry. Seatech designs research vessels, offshore units, dredgers, passenger ships and NATO warships, among others. For years, the company has specialized in ship and installation projects related to so-called Small Scale LNG, having the largest experience and portfolio of such projects for the maritime industry on the Polish market. In addition, due to the dynamic development of the offshore wind energy sector, the company is intensifying its activities in the area of CTV and SOV units. The office, in addition to carrying out its own projects, cooperates with shipyards during the production processes of new units, and also supports ship repair yards in the process of ship modernization.