China: COSCO Nantong Shipyard Starts Keel Laying of Sea Installer

Recently, COSCO Nantong Shipyard commenced keel laying of Sea Installer, hull number N370. This will be the first offshore vessel to be built to meet the PSPC (Performance Standard for Protective Coating) standard.

The steel cutting ceremony for the Sea Installer was held on November 15th in COSCO Nantong Shipyard facilities.

This jack-up vessel SEA INSTALLER, specially designed for the purpose of installation of offshore wind turbines, will be able to carry 8 to 10 wind turbines at a time and to operate at water depths of up to 45 meters, making it well suited to work on upcoming offshore wind projects in the UK as well as other offshore wind markets. The SEA INSTALLER has dimensions of 132mx39mx5.8m, a speed of 12 knots, a crane capacity of 900tonnes and a loading capacity 5,000tonnes. Delivery of the vessel to the shipowner is expected to take place in the second half of 2012.

The contract for SEA INSTALLER was signed with the Danish owner A2SEA A/S in July last year.

COSCO (NanTong) Shipyard in Yangtze River Delta Region has one DWT 150,000 floating dock, one DWT 80,000 floating dock, four repair berths and 400,000m2 land areas. Back in the past 10 years, it has become the prime shipyard of the COSCO Shipyard Group, with its advanced facilities, highly-trained technical personnel and experienced workforce, handing approximately 150 vessels per year and holding the leading position in China all along and is extensively renowned home and abroad for its achievement in big projects and ship conversion.

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Offshore Wind Staff, February 23, 2012; Image: cosco- shipayrd