The China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard has launched the hull of Offshore Heavy Transport’s (OHT) Alfa Lift vessel into the water, so it could be shifted to a site where the final assembly will take place.
OHT’s wind farm foundation installation vessel, due to be delivered in early 2021, has already been selected for the transport and installation of monopile foundations and transition pieces at Dogger Bank’s 1.2GW Creyke Beck A and 1.2GW Creyke Beck B wind farms.
The 216.3m Alfa Lift is a heavy installation crane vessel with semi-submersible heavy transportation capabilities. The vessel is designed to install all types of bottom-fixed offshore wind foundations and will also transport and install topsides and subsea modules, in addition to other heavy cargoes within oil and gas.
CMHI is constructing Alfa Lift at its facility in Jiangsu under an order it received from OHT in July 2018.
The first steel for Alfa Lift was cut on 1 March 2019.
The vessel design has been developed by OHT in close cooperation with Ulstein Design & Solutions BV, Liebherr and DNV GL.