Sylur, a ship of Lotos Petrobaltic, has just become the first Polish vessel with a drilling system that enables geological and engineering research up to 120 meters.

Sylur is a DP2 Platform Supply Vessel owned by Lotos Petrobaltic, which is now also being prepared for work on wind farms. The unit was built in 2003 in Norway, and in 2018 - two years after being purchased by Lotos Petrobaltic - it underwent a thorough reconstruction. The ship is 71.90 meters long and its gross tonnage is 2,150 tons.

In recent days, Sylur has been the first vessel in Poland to be equipped with a drilling system that allows for geological and engineering research at a depth of up to 120 meters. This is an element of adapting the fleet to work on offshore wind farms. Sylur will be able to conduct research of the seabed for the construction of windmills. Supervision over the system installation and technical documentation is performed by the Polish Register of Shipping under an agreement with Miliana Shipmanagement Ltd., which is the vessel's operator.

The system installed on Sylur not only allows for geotechnical research to a depth of 120 meters, but also for drilling under the bottom with a depth of up to 100 meters. Taking into account that seabed research is one of the key elements of wind farm design - it determines, among others, type and method of placing the towers' foundations - Lotos Petrobaltic has become the owner of a tool enabling the provision of comprehensive geotechnical services for offshore wind energy. Orlen Group, as one of the most active players on the market and at the same time the owner of Lotos Petrobaltic, will probably use it diligently.

According to Orlen, the ship has already contracted work in Lithuanian waters, which will start in the first quarter of this year. Sylur will be sent there after the completion of assembly and testing of the new system. The ship will work in the area of the future Lithuanian wind farm, which is being built by a consortium of Geobaltic and Garant Diving, which contracted Lotos Petrobaltic as a subcontractor.

– The new drilling equipment will replace the previously used drilling rig and opens up new, more advanced applications for us in the offshore wind sector. The investment makes our Sylur vessel a unique vessel in the Baltic Sea region and is part of the broad plans for the development of offshore wind farms in Poland and the Baltic States - adds Grzegorz Strzelczyk, President of the Management Board of LOTOS Petrobaltic.

– The energy transformation has a chance to become a driving force of the Polish economy. Its important element will be offshore wind energy, providing not only stable, clean energy to millions of Poles, but also creating thousands of jobs and giving new opportunities to domestic companies. We want to fully use this potential, which is why we consistently implement our own wind projects. We also invest in services for other companies implementing projects not only in Polish territorial waters. The use of the competencies of the acquired Grupa LOTOS for this purpose perfectly demonstrates the synergies created as a result of building a multi-energy concern - says Daniel Obajtek, President of the Management Board of PKN Orlen.