Huisman has been awarded a contract to design, engineer, construct and deliver a 5,000-tonne tub-mounted crane for Jan De Nul Group’s new offshore installation vessel, Les Alizés
The crane – which will be the largest of its type installed on a monohull vessel – will be built at the company’s production facility in Xiamen, China and installed at the shipyard building the vessel, CMHI Haimen.
Jan De Nul director newbuildings Robby De Backer said, “We have carefully selected innovative features for this crane, all of which will increase safety, workability and increase the rate at which the vessel works.”
The tub-mounted crane is designed to allow operations with its main hoist and auxiliary hoist in extreme weather conditions and will be fitted with Huisman’s dual main hoist system for easy upending of large structures, such as foundations for wind turbines.
The crane also has Huisman’s segmented slew bearing, a fully electric drive system, bridge passage system, an automation package to allow for more efficient operation, and is prepared for as yet unspecified future upgrades.
Thanks to the vessel’s dimensions and impressive lifting and loading capacities, Les Alizés will be able to load out, transport and install multiple wind turbine foundations.
As a floating vessel it will also be able to install next-generation foundations in deeper waters and in areas with more challenging seabed conditions than a jack-up vessel could handle.
Apart from foundations for offshore windfarms the vessel will also be used to decommission offshore oil and gas platforms. The crane is set to be delivered in 2021.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.