Marco Polo Marine has expanded rapidly into the offshore wind industry in recent years, with the successful acquisition of PKR Offshore, an established Taiwan-based wind vessel operator, in May 2022. The group also commissioned the development of a new state-of-the-art commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) at their Batam shipyard in early September to expand its service offerings to support the offshore wind farm sector. Leveraging on its offshore wind track record in Taiwan, Marco Polo Marine has been actively identifying suitable partners in new mar-kets to expand its reach, while drawing on the expertise of well-established regional players.
KWS was set up in June 2021 as a joint venture between Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd (‘K’ Line) and Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisha, Ltd for the purpose of providing marine related services for offshore wind power business.
“As Japan unlocks the potential of its offshore wind as a reliable source of energy, we believe the market can become a key revenue-driver for Marco Polo Marine. With KWS as our strategic partner, we intend to pool together our expertise in vessel management and leverage on their deep knowledge of the Japanese market to support the pipeline of offshore wind projects in the region,” said Sean Lee, CEO of Marco Polo Marine.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, Japan has vast offshore wind potential, with approximately 128 GW of fixed-bottom offshore wind potential and 424 GW of floating offshore wind potential. To encourage development in the sec-tor, the Japanese government has put forth a target to achieve 10 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 30 – 45 GW by 2040.
