New Offshore Installation Vessel Boreas Handed Over to Van Oord

January 8, 2025, by Adnan Memija

The offshore installation vessel, Boreas, has been handed over to the Dutch company Van Oord during a ceremony at the Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore shipyard in China.

Van Oord ordered a self-elevating offshore installation vessel at the Yantai CIMC Raffles shipyard in October 2021.

The Boreas, launched in May 2024, is purpose-built for the transport and installation of the next generation of foundations and turbines at offshore wind farms.

Named after the Greek god of the north wind, the vessel measures 175 metres in length and has a 155-metre-high boom, which can lift more than 3,000 tonnes.

Four legs, each measuring 126 metres, allow the ship to be jacked up and work in waters up to 70 meters deep and enable it to install up to 20 MW offshore wind turbines, according to Van Oord.

“Undoubtedly Boreas is a benchmark for the whole offshore wind industry for many years to come and will play a significant role for the transportation and installation of the next generation of foundations and up to 20MW offshore wind turbines at sea,” said Zhao Hui, Vice President of CIMC Raffles Group.

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The Boreas will now be prepared to sail to the Netherlands, where the final outfitting works will take place, including the installation of equipment for storing and handling the foundations of wind turbines.

According to Van Oord, the vessel will be the first of its kind to be able to run on methanol, using Wärtsilä’s dedicated fuel supply system, MethanolPac.

The ship is expected to be commercially available in the third quarter of 2025.