C-Job provides design package for advanced installation vessel

Orion's technical specs will give her a future-proof position in the offshore wind turbine and foundation installation market

APRIL 5, 2017 —Hoofddorp, Netherlands, headquartered C-Job Naval Architects is provide China’s COSCO (Qidong) Offshore shipyard with the basic design package for the Orion, an advanced offshore installation vessel that the yard is to build for DEME Group

C-Job’s recently completed the concept design for the vessel, which will be be operated by DEME subsidiary GeoSea, and will be used to service offshore wind installation and for oil & gas and decommissioning activities.

C-Job’s dedicated Orion project team will now be able to draw on the extensive knowledge of the ship that they have built up. This will yield efficiencies in overall project timing as well as maritime engineering and vessel optimisation.

“The same team will be involved, so it is really a natural progression for us,” says C-Job Project Manager Rafael Novas Garcia. “We will be able to hit the ground running with this Basic Design.”

DEME says that Orion will feature an unrivaled combination of exceptionally high transport and load capacity, impressive lifting heights and green technology. The vessel will be built at COSCO in China and is set to be delivered in 2019.

With a total installed capacity of 44,180 kW Orion will be equipped with a high-tech crane with lifting capacity of 3,000 tonnes at more than 50 metres. The loads can be lifted to an unrivalled height of more than 170 m. Deck space has been maximized to provide exceptionally high transport and load capacity. The vessel can take the heaviest monopiles, jackets, wind turbine components and structures in a single shipment. With this unmatched combination of high load and lifting capacity, ‘Orion’ can transport and install the next generation of giant multi-megawatt wind turbines.

Orion will have dual fuel engines and enabing it to operate on natural gas (LNG). It will have a Green Passport and Clean Design notation. It will also have other environmental innovations on board, including a waste heat recovery system that converts heat from the exhaust gasses and cooling water to electrical energy.

The 216.5 m long Orion, featuring DP3 capability, can accommodate a crew of up to 131 people.

C-Job Technical Manager Maarten Veldhuizen, says that Orion will be an extremely effective tool in the rapidly expanding offshore wind industry.

“In terms of size and weight of foundations and turbine components, this sector is advancing fast,” he explains. “And what we are seeing is that jack-up installation vessels are reaching their limits in terms of vessel strength and payload capacity. The Orion’s technical specs will give her a future-proof position in the offshore wind turbine and foundation installation market.”