Offshore activities also bring crew changes for the ships as well as changes of the wind turbine technicians on board, which has become a source of revenue for Bornholm-based companies. At Offshore Center Bornholm (OCB), the focus is on handling a growing number of tasks within offshore wind. This is being achieved both by securing more tasks, but also new and larger ones that come with the knowledge acquired about the industry and the experience continuously gathered and evaluated. One of the tasks in focus is crew changes.

Morten Krogsgaard from Svaneke Hostel & Svaneke og Nexø Bustrafik is among the businesses on Bornholm that have benefited from this and gained the initial experience. ”First and foremost, there is transport to and from the harbour, but in some situations there has also been a need for an overnight stay, and that can be either for the crew going on board or those heading home from Bornholm. It is an exciting task, and it requires really good coordination with, for example, the shipbroker and the authorities on Bornholm who check passports and that sort of thing, as the crew can consist of people from all over the world. We hope to see a lot more of that kind of thing in the future,” says Morten Krogsgaard.

”The first time we saw crew changes also following offshore tasks on a larger scale was when a Dutch company laying cables at the Arkona offshore wind farm used Bornholm precisely for crew changes. They had simply hired an aircraft, flew a crew from Amsterdam directly to Bornholm and returned with the shift. While the ship was in port, there were a number of extraordinary things that needed sorting out, such as broken tools or the inspection of safety equipment and the like. And provisions were also brought on board, a good deal of which were packed on Bornholm, says Lone Reppien Thomsen from OCB, and continues:

”In the process of a crew change, a wide range of companies are involved – particularly during the larger changes. These include, for example, port security (a job handled by Safft Security), various logistical tasks carried out by shipbrokers such as BHS Logistics and SDK, which involve bus companies, accommodation providers, the airport, airlines, taxi and ferry companies, and food suppliers. Upon completion of the Kriegers Flak project, high praise was also given to the Bornholm authorities for a very good collaborative effort in this regard.