Business Sectors
Business Sectors
Events
Contents
Register to read more articles.
Seaway 7 assessing options should Dogger Bank installation vessel be delayed
Seaway 7 chief executive Stuart Fitzgerald says the company is ‘assessing contingencies and mitigations’ should Alfa Lift, the vessel due to install all of the foundations for what will be the world’s largest offshore windfarm, be late entering into operation
Seaway 7 is contracted to install the foundations for all three phases of the 3.6-GW Dogger Bank offshore windfarm, which is to be built more than 130 km off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea. It is being developed in three 1.2-GW phases: Dogger Bank A, B and C.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm awarded a contract to Seaway 7 to transport and install the monopile foundations and transition pieces for Dogger Bank C this month, having earlier awarded contracts to the company for Dogger Bank A and B. According to Dogger Bank Wind Farm, transport and installation of the monopiles and transition pieces for Dogger Bank A and B is expected to be performed between 2022 and 2024.
The Alfa Lift vessel has been launched and work on it is progressing with a focus on commissioning and start-up of key systems, but in October 2021 Seaway 7 confirmed that an incident had taken place involving the folding A-frame on the vessel’s main crane. In the 18 October incident, Mr Fitzgerald confirmed, “the A-frame had folded down in an unplanned, uncontrolled way.”
The incident took place at the yard in China that is building Alfa Lift, China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI), and Seaway 7 is yet to confirm that the vessel will definitely be ready to start work on Dogger Bank A on schedule.
Speaking during a 17 November 2021 presentation of the company’s Q3 2021 results, Mr Fitzgerald said the impact of the unplanned incident involving the A-frame was still being assessed. The vessel was due to be delivered in H2 2022.
“The impact of that unplanned event is still under assessment,” said Mr Fitzgerald. “Given potential delays, we are examining contingencies and mitigations for the first project commitments.” He said options available to the company should Alfa Lift not be available to start work on Dogger Bank on time are also still under assessment.
Alfa Lift was floated out from the drydock at CMHI in March 2021. The specialist heavy installation vessel, designed to install next-generation XXL foundations for offshore wind turbines, was launched on 28 February 2021.
The Liebherr HLC150000 crane for the new vessel was installed in September 2021 and has a characteristic foldable A-frame that can be used to reduce the height of the crane, if required.
The foldable A-frame means that, unlike many other crane vessels of this size, Alfa Lift is able to navigate beneath bridges or other obstructions. This feature reduces transit time, for instance if the vessel needs to enter the Baltic via the Storebaltsbroen in Denmark.
The foldable A-frame also provides more flexibility, which in turn leads to both operational and cost-efficiencies, increasing the number of charter days and vessel availability.
Until the incident, construction of Alfa Lift had progressed as expected and without significant delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic or other causes.
The Dogger Bank windfarm is being developed by SSE Renewables and Equinor, with first power expected in 2023.
Related to this Story
Events
Maritime Regulations Webinar Week
16 Dec 2025
GMT - ONLINE
Floating energy: successfully unlocking stranded gas using FLNGs and FSRUs
24 Feb 2026GMT - ONLINE
© 2026 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.
