DEME’s new offshore installation vessel was launched at COSCO Qidong shipyard in China on 21 November.
Construction is progressing on schedule on the vessel, Orion, which is primarily intended for constructing offshore windfarms, but will also work in the offshore oil and gas and decommissioning sectors.
With a total installed capacity of 44,180 kW, Orion will be equipped with a Liebherr crane with lifting capacity of 5,000 tonnes that can hoist loads at what the owner described as “an exceptional radius.” The loads can also be lifted to a height of more than 170 m.
The deck space and deadweight of the vessel have been optimised to provide an exceptionally high transport and loading capacity. This means Orion can transport the heaviest monopiles, jackets, wind turbine components and structures in a single shipment, and will be able to transport and install the next generation of multi-megawatt offshore wind turbines.
Environmental considerations are also an important element of the design, and Orion has dual-fuel engines that can run on liquefied natural gas (LNG). The vessel will also have a Green Passport and Clean Design class notation, along with a number of other innovations, such as a waste heat recovery system that converts heat from the exhaust gases and cooling water to electrical energy. Evaporation of LNG will be used to cool the accommodation spaces on the vessel using a cold recovery system.
At 216.5 m in length, Orion has dynamic positioning to DP3 standard and is expected to join DEME’s fleet at the end of 2019.
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