Offshore installation vessel for DEME

Orion will be deployed by DEME’s subsidiary GeoSea for the construction of offshore wind farms and to service the oil and gas industry as well as for the decommissioning of offshore installations.

It has dual fuel engines and can run on LNG, it will have a Green Passport and Clean Design notation.

Luc Vandebulckle, managing director at GeoSea, concluded: “With Orion we will be uniquely positioned to meet the future requirements of our customers and the trend towards larger capacity turbines and bigger wind farm projects, delivering energy at lower costs.”

He added: “Orion will be capable of installing mega monopiles at greater depths. With DP3 technology the offshore installation vessel can continue operations under the most challenging conditions.”

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 maximised to provide exceptionally high transport and load capacity.

Orion can take the heaviest monopiles, jackets, wind turbine components and structures in a single shipment. It will be able to transport and install the next generation of giant multi-megawatt wind turbines.

The vessel can accommodate a crew of up to 131 people and is expected to be delivered in 2019.

By Alice Mason