Engineering news
Seajacks International is buying what it claims will be the world's largest offshore wind farm installation vessel from Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries .
The Norfolk-based firm, which owns and operates four self-propelled jack-up vessels in the North Sea, will add the "Seajacks Scylla" to its fleet in the second half of 2015. The company is also considering building two additional vessels.
The vessel has been specifically designed to meet the demands associated with working UK Round 3, Scottish territorial waters and the other North West European markets.
Named Seajacks Scylla, the new vessel is based on the Gusto MSC NG14000X design, will be equipped with a 1500t leg-encircling crane, incorporate useable deck space in excess of 5000m2, and have over 8000t of available variable load.
Sailing at speeds of 12 knots or over, Scylla will be outfitted with 105 metre long legs that have the ability to install components in water depths of up to 65m.
Seajacks provides vessels to both the offshore wind and oil and gas industries. The company recently opened an office in Japan to service the Asian market.
Recent projects the company has been involved with include the the Meerwind Offshore Wind Park in Germany, where it has installed 80 monopiles. As part of its role as Main Installation Contractor at the German site, Seajacks is responsible for the installation of all turbines and foundations, as well as the scour installation, grouting and noise mitigation for the project.
Blair Ainslie, CEO of the Seajacks Group, said, “Seajacks Scylla is a significant milestone for Seajacks and for the offshore wind industry. She is a Round 3 vessel and is more technically advanced than any other installation vessel that we see on the market today.
Drawing on our extensive experience, and based on feedback from discussions with clients across the supply chain, the design of Seajacks Scylla has been developed to meet the installation needs of jumbo-monopiles, jackets and turbines of future wind farms in deeper waters and further from shore.
Harris Lee, Vice President of the Samsung Heavy Industries, said
“Since Scylla will be the most technically advanced unit in the sector, we will put our utmost effort into both the design and construction phases to ensure the best quality and performance of vessel. Meanwhile, we are viewing the wind power market very positively and are therefore optimistic about the optional vessels.”