Vryhof Anchors appoints Neil Schulz to forward its global business strategy
Effective November 2020, Neil Schulz has been officially appointed Business Development Director at Vryhof Anchors. In this role, Neil will push the global business strategy with the mission to become one of the key players in providing complete mooring systems in Vryhof’s key markets and more specifically its global floating offshore wind practice.
Vryhof Anchor's Managing Director Leopoldo Bello commented: “Neil brings a broad range of technical, operational and commercial expertise. And has a proven track record in the research and development of new fibre rope technology. His career spans over 28 years of experience in mooring systems and his deep knowledge of fibre rope products used in offshore marine applications, makes him the perfect fit to guide Vryhof Anchors into the rapidly changing energy transition sector. His technical experience and understanding of mooring components will greatly benefit our clients.”
Neil was involved in the design, testing and installation of the first polyester deep water mooring systems in Brazil and later on in the Gulf of Mexico, European waters and the Mediterranean.
For Neil personally, it is a great privilege working at Vryhof Anchors and above all to focus their work in floating offshore wind alongside the existing O&G business. He is looking forward to learning all about anchors to compliment his knowledge of fibre ropes and offshore mooring systems.
“Vryhof’s mission is to deliver mooring packages to oil and gas customers, asset owners and developers in the renewable energy sector, as well as to special projects and the downstream gas sector,” commenced Neil his very first interview as Vryhof Anchor's Business Development Director. “Although there will always be a mix of fossil energy and renewables, floating wind energy is undisputedly a key sector of the global energy transition. The hydrocarbon industry will become less important in the future, while the floating wind sector with evolving technologies, including cost-effective innovative mooring systems, is about to boom. Engineering is my passion and blending my knowledge of rope with Vryhof's innovative mooring products really gives me a buzz. I find it extremely motivating to be able to contribute to Vryhof and to provide top-tier mooring technology in all aspects.”
Based from his home office in Southeast England, Neil truly believes that Vryhof’s mooring systems are crucial in the future success of floating wind. He states: “Vryhof can play a decisive role in the internationalisation of this challenging sector. Not only here in Europe but also in the US and the Asia Pacific area. We were already involved in two-thirds of all floating wind demo-projects in the world as we are convinced that accompanying and supporting the various ‘green’ energy providers from the very start is beneficial to both us and our clients. Obviously as a supplier, we are driven by the projects that developers are pushing forward. Take, for example, the large-scale floating wind farms that are being planned within 4 to 5 years from now. Project industrialisation is the magic word here. What the developers expect from us is a cost effective and efficient solution resulting in a price level that can make the economics work for each of their projects. Vryhof constantly evaluates solutions to provide more added value, especially when you talk about manufacturing volumes as big as 1000MW. We take this challenge with an open mind and it is my responsibility to get the Vryhof engineers into these projects at a very early stage in order to transfer our mooring knowledge and to assist during the design process.”
