Belgium marine contractor DEME has ordered a new, 300-tonne lifting capacity offshore transport and installation vessel, to be called Orion, from China's COSCO.
The vessel is set to be delivered in 2019 and will be deployed by DEME’s subsidiary GeoSea for the construction of offshore wind farms, servicing the oil and gas industry and decommissioning of offshore installations.
The 3000-tonne capacity crane will work out to 50m reach. Loads will be able to be lifted to a height of more than 170m. DEME says deck space has been maximized to provide high transport and load capacity, including the heaviest monopiles, jackets, wind turbine components and structures in a single shipment, positioning it for the next generation of giant multi-megawatt wind turbines.
Orion will have dual fuel engines and will be able to run on LNG. It will have a Green Passport and Clean Design notation. It will also have other environmental innovations on board, such as a waste heat recovery system that converts heat from the exhaust gasses and cooling water to electrical energy.
The 216.5m-long vessel will be DP3 and able to accommodate up to 131 people.Luc Vandenbulcke, Managing Director GeoSea: “With Orion we will be uniquely positioned to meet the future requirements of our customers and the trend towards larger capacity turbines and bigger wind farm projects, delivering energy at lower costs. Orion will be capable of installing mega monopiles at greater depths. With DP3 technology the offshore installation vessel can continue operations under the most challenging conditions.”