BEKAERT

Company Outline

Bekaert is a leading supplier of synthetic fibre and steel wire ropes. Widely known via its brands Bridon and Wire Rope Industries (WRI), the group provides solutions to customers from a wide range of sectors, including construction, maritime industries, offshore wind and oil and gas.

Bekaert relies on its experience in other sectors to address the mooring challenges presented by floating offshore wind. The challenges include high dynamic loads, sea bed contact, marine fouling and cutting resistance. Bekaert’s solutions for the offshore wind industry include:

• MoorLine, a synthetic fibre rope available in a range of materials, including polyester, nylon and high modulus polyethylene, providing a portfolio of stiffness characteristics to suit the requirements of any project
• Spiral Strand, a high strength steel wire rope, made from galvanised wire, specialist lubricant, blocking compound and polyethylene sheaving to increase its robustness and extend its design life to 25 years

Bekaert has a joint venture with TFI Marine which offers the SeaSpring load reduction device to improve the fatigue life of mooring systems. It also has a licence agreement with Applied Fiber which provides industrial terminations allowing for easy connection options.

Industry track record

Bekaert has a combination of over 300 years of experience in steel wire and synthetic fibre ropes.

In the floating offshore wind sector, Bekaert has been involved in a range of demonstration projects deployed across APAC, Europe, and the US, including the Hywind Tampen project in Norway.