Aeolus , the first jack-up vessel specialized for work on offshore wind farms to be designed and built in Germany, has left the shipyard and is now sailing along the river Elbe to Bremerhaven.
The vessel was built at Sietas shipyard for the renowned Dutch marine engineering company Van Oord.
The offshore wind jack- up vessel has a transport capacity of up to 5,600 tons and can work safely in water depths of up to 45 meters. It can be self-loaded, and has DP2 equipment (Dynamic Positioning System 2), which enables the vessel to be stably positioned at a precise spot even in the rough seas.
Its jacking system consists of four stilts, which are 84 meters long, each weighing about 1,000 tons with a diameter of 4.5 meters. Thus, the vessel can be elevated high above the water surface and can hold a safe working position for installation tasks.
Aeolus is 140 meters long, 38 meters wide, and its sides are 9.12 meters high. It has a draft of 5.70 meters and a service cruising speed of 12 knots. The diesel-electric propulsion with four generators can achieve a total of 20,000 kilowatts. The special offshore crane can lift 900 tons load at a display of 30 meters and work at a height of about 120 meters above the water.
The installation vessel can accommodate 74 crew members. Aeolus ’ first mission is scheduled for July 2014, when the vessel will be engaged in the construction of the Eneco Luchterduinen wind farm, off the Dutch coast.
The construction contract with Van Oord was negotiated and completed during the Sietas’ insolvency proceedings. After more than two years of intensive search, insolvency administrator Berthold Brinkmann has found a strategic investor for Sietas shipyard in Hamburg. Pella Shipyard from Otradnoye in St. Petersburg, Russia, will take over the company on March 10, 2014.
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Offshore WIND Staff, February 18, 2014; Image: Schellenberg & Kirchberg PR