VIDEO: CMHI floats out offshore wind foundation installation ship

Written by Nick Blenkey
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Alfa Lift will have the ability to perform heavy lift crane operations with the main deck submerged. [image: CMHI]

China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu, China, has floated out Alfa Lift, a newbuild heavy installation vessel, designed and built for installing the next generation of extra-large offshore wind foundations.

Under construction for Oslo-headquartered OHT (Offshore Heavy Lift), the Ulstein-designed semisubmersible vessel’s first assignment will be to install the monopile foundations of the Dogger Bank A & B sections of what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm 125 to 290 kilometers off the east coast of Yorkshire, England, in the North Sea.

Image courtesy CMHI

According to Ulstein, what makes this dynamically-positioned, 48,000 DWT vessel truly exceptional is the ability to perform heavy lift crane operations with the main deck submerged.

Following float out, the vessel will now be moored while work continues on the steel and internal fit-out, including the mechanical completion of systems.

Meanwhile, key elements of Alfa Lift’s major crane components have been completed in Rostock, Germany. The vessel will be equipped with a Liebherr heavy lift crane with a maximum lifting capacity of 3,000 tonnes at 30 meters and 1,000 tonnes at 76 meters outreach. The crane’s slewing column and the A-frame are scheduled to leave Rostock in early March and will arrive in China in April where they will be installed.

Alfa Lift is on schedule for delivery at the end of this year or early 2022.

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