Van Oord takes delivery of Boreas

Rotterdam-based offshore construction company, Van Oord, has taken delivery of the offshore installation vessel, Boreas, at Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore in China. Named after the Greek God of the northern winds, the vessel has been designed to transport and install the latest foundation modules and turbines at offshore wind farms.

Following a voyage to the Netherlands and final outfitting work including installation of equipment for storing and handling wind turbine foundations, the vessel will be officially named. It is likely to become commercially available during the third quarter of the year.

The 175m-long unit has a 155m-high boom capable of lifting 3,000 tonnes. Four large legs, each measuring 126m, will enable the vessel to work in water depths of up to 70m. It will be capable of installing wind turbines of up to 20MW, making it the largest such vessel so far. Van Oord has opted to have the vessel ready to use methanol as fuel, reducing its carbon footprint by close to 80%, the company claims.

Vice president of CIMC Raffles Group, Zhao Hui, commented: “We’re happy to work together with Van Oord and deliver the state-of-the-art vessel Boreas. 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. I’m grateful to Van Oord and all the parties and people who worked on this project.”

Van Oord’s Harold Linssen, director of Ship Management, said: “The delivery of the Boreas marks a major milestone for Van Oord. I am pleased to celebrate this together with all those who contributed to the construction of the vessel in China. We are looking forward to welcoming this beautiful vessel to our fleet.”