The installation of the Liebherr HLC15000 crane on board OHT’s new vessel Alfa Lift has been completed at the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu, China, the vessel owner reported via social media .
Currently, the vessel is being fitted with monopile cradles in preparation for her first project installing foundations on Dogger Bank, according to OHT.
CMHI, which is building Alfa Lift under an order received from OHT in July 2018, cut the first steel for the vessel on 1 March 2019. In November that same year, the vessel was selected to transport and install monopile foundations and transition pieces at Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B offshore wind farms in the UK.
Alfa Lift ‘s crane has a maximum lifting capacity of 3,000 tonnes at 30 metres and 1,000 tonnes at a 76-metre outreach. The vessel will also be equipped with Red Rock Marine’s 30T compact telescopic offshore crane which will assist Alfa Lift ’s main crane during monopile installation.
The 216.3-metre vessel also has a “smart deck” of more than 10,000 square metres that can carry up to 14 giant monopiles per trip and will be fully submersible to a depth of 14.66 metres.
Designed by OHT in close cooperation with Ulstein Design & Solutions and DNV GL, Alfa Lift will be capable of installing all types of bottom-fixed offshore wind foundations and will also transport and install topsides and subsea modules, in addition to other heavy cargoes within oil and gas.
The vessel is scheduled for delivery by the end of this year or in early 2022.