Fred. Olsen Windcarrier’s jack-up vessel Bold Tern has arrived in Singapore, where it will be upgraded with a new 1600-tonne crane to enable the installation of next-generation wind turbines and foundations weighing up to 1,500 tonnes.
The vessel will be fitted with Huisman’s 1600t LEC 65500 leg encircling crane and will also undergo additional improvements to the deck space and stability, before returning into service in Spring 2022.
According to Fred. Olsen Windcarrier, the upgraded vessel will be capable of transporting and installing some of the most powerful offshore wind turbines currently on the market, including Siemens Gamesa’s 14 MW model and GE’s Haliade-X 12 MW, each in a set of three per trip.
Before heading to Singapore, Bold Tern was installing wind turbines on the Moray East project in Scotland, where it was replaced by Blue Tern in May.
Once the upgrade work is completed, the vessel will stay in the APAC region to fulfill Fred. Olsen Windcarrier’s contract obligations for the 2022 season. The company decided to temporarily mobilise Bold Tern in the region after its upgrade as Siemens Gamesa extended its contract for Brave Tern on the Yunlin offshore wind farm in Taiwan.
To enable Brave Tern’s extended stay on the Yunlin project and meeting its contractual obligations in Asia Pacific, Fred. Olsen Windcarrier replaced Bold Tern with Blue Tern at the Moray East offshore wind farm, so Bold Tern could undergo its upgrades and be ready for service in the spring next year.
After installing the wind turbines on the 640 MW Yunlin offshore wind farm, Brave Tern was scheduled to transport and install 62 Vestas 9.5 MW turbines at the Changfang and Xidao offshore wind farms in Taiwan, a job it will now most likely be taken over by Bold Tern.