NHV (Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen) Group has ordered a second twin engine Airbus H145, which is expected to be delivered by the end of the year. NHV’s new H145 will join one other H145 (OO-NST) that the company has been operating since November 2018 out of Ostend, Belgium.
With a capacity of nine passengers, one or two pilots, a maximum take-off weight of 3,800 kilograms (8,380 pounds) and a maximum speed of 130 knots, the H145 is a good addition to NHV’s fleet. Crews can fly up to 3.5 hours in excellent conditions.
NHV Group is a company specialized in offshore and onshore helicopter services. It is the only helicopter service operator with a presence in all oil-and-gas producing countries in the North Sea region. The company also has a very strong presence in West Africa.
With over 60 helicopters and 550 employees worldwide NHV flies missions both onshore and offshore. NHV provides services via the transport of crews and loads to and from oil-and-gas platforms. It also has strong expertise in delivering search-and-rescue (SAR) services, like it does for the Netherlands Coastguard. In the last year, the renewables sector — especially the wind offshore industry — became more important to NHV. In the onshore market, the company provides ambulance transport and helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS).
The company believes innovation is the key to success. The addition of new and innovative helicopter types, like the Leonardo AW169 and Airbus H175 and H145, to NHV’s fleet is only one example. “We are constantly looking for new opportunities to lift our service levels to even higher standards with innovative solutions. We encourage our staff to think outside the box,” the company said.
Air-to-air shoot with the Airbus H145
The photoflight started at 1 p.m. local time out of Maasvlakte Heliport in Rotterdam. NHV normally has two AS365(N3) Dauphin helicopters stationed here. After my safety briefing, photo briefing and drysuit fitting, we departed towards the wind farm at the North Sea somewhere near the coast of Belgium. NHV’s current H145 (OO-NST) approached us after some holding patterns above the windmills. It was such a nice view with all those big windmills at sea and such a little (by comparison) helicopter between them.
The H145 did a winch exercise at one of the windmill platforms and afterwards on a platform at sea — an extraordinary view. With an open door in my photoship, the Dauphin, it was very nice to see the operations from a different perspective. My crew offered me some good photo opportunities like we briefed before our flight. After a while we had to head back to Rotterdam.
We set up for one last formation inbound the coastline of Belgium before the H145 returned back to its home station in Ostend.
Future operations with the Airbus H145
NHV Group will start a new project in May 2020 in support of the Borssele 1 and 2 wind farm. The project will be supported using the H145 helicopter, and flights will depart daily from Midden-Zeeland Airport, The Netherlands. This will be the aircraft’s first large expected operation.
