Jan De Nul’s new jack-up vessel, Voltaire, has left Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where it underwent further commissioning and project-specific adjustments ahead of its first assignment, and is now on its way to Europe.
The vessel’s first deployment will be on the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm project offshore the UK, the world’s largest offshore wind farm under construction. For the three-phase project, Voltaire will be transporting and installing a total of 277 GE Haliade-X turbines.
The Belgian offshore construction company signed a contract to install Haliade-X 13 MW offshore wind turbines at Dogger Bank A & B in 2020 and secured the same work for Dogger Bank C, which will feature Haliade-X 14 MW turbines, the following year.
Wind turbine components started arriving at Able Seaton Port, the offshore wind project’s marshalling port, in January and GE is now preparing for the installation work .
China’s COSCO Shipping Shipyard delivered the jack-up vessel to Jan De Nul in December last year and Voltaire departed for the UAE shortly after that, arriving in Ras Al Khaimah in mid-January to undergo final outfitting.
According to Jan De Nul, this is the world’s tallest jack-up installation vessel, standing taller than the Eiffel Tower.
Voltaire has four legs measuring a little over 130 metres and a capacity to lift 16,000 tonnes of cargo. The vessel is fitted with a Huisman Leg Encircling Crane (LEC) of more than 3,000 tonnes – the largest LEC ever built and will use Huisman’s Universal Quick Connector (UQC) to pick up loads without any manual handling.
The jack-up is specifically designed to transport, hoist and install the next-generation offshore wind turbines, transition pieces and foundations, and is able to handle wind turbines of over 270 metres in height and 120 metres long blades.