Boskalis commissioned its Bokalift 1 crane vessel on 24 February in Rotterdam, where the company celebrated the milestone together with its 3,500 employees and their families. The vessel is purposed, among other things, for transporting and installing offshore wind turbine foundations.
The Bokalift 1 was born after the conversion of the former Finesse type II heavy transport vessel. The outfitting of dynamic positioning (DP2) and additional accommodation, which ensures up to 150 people can be housed onboard, was completed in Singapore. The rotating mast crane with a lifting capacity of 3,000 tonnes was installed in China.
Following the ceremony in Rotterdam, the vessel started its first assignment in the North Sea, Boskalis stated in its annual results for 2017, discussing fleet developments.
The company first mentioned the conversion of the vessel in October 2016, when it won a contract for the transport and installation of the Hornsea Project One foundations, saying the converted vessel will be used on the project. The Bokalift 1 will install the foundations for a part of the 1.2GW wind farm located some 120 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast, UK.
According to the vessel’s AIS data, the Bokalift 1 is currently in the port of Vlissingen, the Netherlands.
Offshore WIND contacted Boskalis to confirm on which project the Bokalift 1 is currently deployed and is still waiting for a response.