China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) has laid the keel for Offshore Heavy Transport’s (OHT) new semisubmersible wind farm foundation installation vessel Alfa Lift.
CMHI is constructing the Ulstein-designed vessel at its facility in Jiangsu under an order it received from OHT in July last year.
According to OHT, for the first time the fabricated blocks have come together for assembly in the dry dock and the vessel will start to take shape.
“We have worked together with the shipyard in an open and cooperative way to ensure the utmost quality of construction,” said OHT’s CEO Torgeir Ramstad . “According to our customers our vessel will be ground-breaking and will serve the growing offshore wind market for decades to come. The word “growing” is perhaps not precise enough to describe what is happening in the offshore wind market.”
Alfa Lift is designed to install all types of bottom-fixed offshore wind foundations and will transport and install topsides and subsea modules, in addition to other heavy cargoes within oil & gas.
Featuring a free deck length of 148m, and a free deck area of 8,100m² (main) + 2,470 m² (foredeck), the vessel has accommodation for 100 people. It has a total length of 216.3m, and a breadth of 56m.
The launching ceremony is planned for March 2020, with Alfa Lift due to be delivered in early 2021.