Certified capability lets crews move between two floating vessels at sea, freeing offshore operators from fixed landing points and port-call scheduling

MacGregor has announced that its Horizon gangway has received DNV certification for floating-to-floating (F2F) personnel transfer, enabling motion-compensated walkway connections between two vessels moving independently.

The certification, achieved under DNV-ST-0358 following a successful sea acceptance test, extends the proven Horizon platform to operating scenarios where no fixed landing point exists. The capability gives operators of FPSOs, floating rigs, floating wind arrays and offshore service fleets a new degree of scheduling freedom. Crew changes can be carried out at sea, service campaigns no longer need to be routed around port calls, and walk-to-work access between vessels can follow the field’s schedule rather than the port’s.

At the heart of the solution is a purpose-designed flap at the gangway tip, which replaces the conventional docking head used for landings on fixed structures. LiDAR-based relative motion tracking feeds the gangway’s motion compensation system in real time, maintaining a controlled connection as both vessels move.

“This new capability opens up flexible crewing models for FPSOs and floating facilities, so that crew changes can be carried out at sea, service campaigns don’t need to be routed around port calls, and walk-to-work access between vessels can be based on the field’s schedule,” said Prateek Sadhana, MacGregor Product Owner, Walk-to-Work Gangways. “In the renewables sector, this supports the service logistics that floating wind operations demand – where there is no fixed structure to land on whatsoever.”

F2F is delivered as an extended function of the existing Horizon gangway family rather than a standalone product and can be retrofitted/ upgraded to existing units in operation. Operators already running Horizon gangways gain the new capability on a platform they know, with the same control philosophy and no separate qualification process.

“Certification matters commercially as well as technically,” Sadhana added. “It gives owners, charterers and insurers an independently verified basis for planning

vessel-to-vessel operations, and it gives crews the confidence that the equipment they cross has been designed, tested and certified for exactly this use.”

MacGregor will present the F2F capability at ONS 2026 in Stavanger, 24–27 August, Hall 5, Stand 5540.