EMDEN – Northern Helicopter GmbH (NHC Northern Helicopter), Emden, is set to take up the offshore rescue service for the Veja Mate, Nordergrund, Butendiek and BARD Offshore 1 offshore wind farms in the North Sea’s German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on 1 August 2020.

The contract package now signed covers the air rescue service for a total of 245 offshore wind turbines, as well as coordination via the emergency control centre. The wind farms are located in the German Bight, in some cases more than 100 kilometres off the mainland.

NHC Northern Helicopter has specialized for over ten years in handling acute and emergency medical situations and the transport of injured and sick people from offshore wind farms in both the North and Baltic Seas. The company has been a member of DRF Stiftung Luftrettung gemeinnützige AG (DRF Luftrettung), a non-profit air rescue foundation, since 2019. Together with its partners, NHC Northern Helicopter offers WINDEAcare, the holistic rescue concept for offshore air rescue.

High quality standards in combination with round-the-clock availability and reliability were the decisive factors that secured the order for the Emden-based offshore air rescue company. “Our staff and service providers on the high seas need to rely on getting reliable, fast and qualified help in medical emergency situations. That is why we decided in favour of NHC Northern Helicopter”, says Stefan Klett, Managing Director of Veja Mate Offshore Project GmbH.

Each NHC Northern Helicopter offshore rescue helicopter is fitted out with state-of-the art emergency medical equipment for the treatment and monitoring of patients which more than meets the requirements of the DIN EN 13718 equipment standard. These include the availability of ventilators, mobile ultrasound and monitoring. The aircraft are crewed by a pilot, co-pilot and a winch operator and carry a medical team comprised of an emergency doctor and a paramedic, both of whom trained in performing rescues at great heights, especially at sea. Offshore wind turbines are over one hundred metres high. The emergency paramedics are additionally qualified in height and water rescue.

NHC Northern Helicopter offshore rescue helicopters are on 24/7 standby for offshore rescue throughout the year. “The new contract reflects the trust the offshore wind industry places in us and our rescue concept,” emphasize Armin Ortmann and Christian Müller-Ramcke, Managing Directors of Northern Helicopter GmbH.

The contract with Veja Mate Offshore Project GmbH, OWP Nordergrund GmbH & Co. KG, OWP Butendiek GmbH & Co. KG, and Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH & Co. KG was concluded for a term of three years with the option of extending for a further two years.