Van Oord News

Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel Boreas has arrived in the Netherlands after a voyage from China of almost 14,700 nautical miles for final outfitting and christening before embarking on its first offshore wind project.The Boreas is currently docked at TMA Logistics in the Port of Amsterdam, where the vessel will undergo its final completion and commissioning phase.Its decks will simultaneously be outfitted with wind turbine foundation equipment and installation tools in preparation for its first assignment. The christening will take place in Rotterdam in June.

A series of advanced selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems has been installed on Van Oord’s cable-laying vessel (CLV) Nexus by Damen Shipyards Group in an effort to further reduce emissions.Five SCR units have been installed on the Nexus, one for each engine.SCR is an advanced emissions control technology. It contains a catalytic converter behind the engine which reduces nitrogen (NOx) emissions to an absolute minimum.It works by a catalyst which reacts with injected urea, chemically removing NOx from the vessel’s exhaust emissions.

Van Oord’s heavy lift installation vessel Svanen has installed the first monopile at the Baltic Power offshore wind farm, north of the Polish coast.Developers ORLEN and Northland Power contracted Van Oord for the transport and installation of 78 foundations, consisting of a monopile fitted with a transition piece.With a production capacity of up to 1.2 GW, the Baltic Power offshore wind farm is expected to ultimately supply renewable energy to more than 1.5 million households in Poland.

In an article by Rhonda Moniz published this week on MarineLink, Siemens sales executive Ed Schwarz noted the flexibility provided by an electric distribution “backbone” that enables ferry operators to add more batteries, switch to new fuels or become 100% emission free with fuel cells.A string of deliveries reported this week demonstrate that steps are being taken along this pathway for a range of vessels:The hull of Lithuania’s first green hydrogen and electricity-powered ship was launched by the Klaipėda State Seaport Authority.

Van Oord, in cooperation with ZEDHub, Smart Delta Drechtsteden, the Municipality of Dordrecht and Port of Rotterdam, has demonstrated the operation of the fully electric crane vessel Christiaan P, a first for the dredging industry.Christiaan P. is a crane vessel owned by Paans Van Oord which was retrofitted to remove its engines and replace them with electric motors. The crane was also replaced by an electric one. The vessel is used for various kinds of marine engineering work…

DEME and Van Oord have secured separate contracts from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) for installation works at the 500 MW Fengmiao 1 offshore wind farm in Taiwan.DEME, through its Taiwanese joint venture CDWE, has been awarded a substantial contract for the transport and installation of foundations and the offshore substation for the Fengmiao 1 offshore wind farm in Taiwan.For DEME, substantial contract means it is valued between $155 million and $310 million.CDWE is responsible for the transport and installation of 33 jacket foundations…

This week at MarineLink…A noteworthy vessel was introduced to the fixed-bottom offshore wind sector this week. The offshore installation vessel Boreas was delivered to Van Oord by Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore in China. The vessel will be the largest of its kind once operational, and it is purpose-built for the transport and installation of foundations and turbines up to 20MW capacity turbines.China’s Dongfang Electric is already building 26MW turbines, part of an on-going upsizing of projects that is driving up the size of these specialized…

A brand-new offshore installation vessel Boreas has been handed over to Van Oord during a festive ceremony at the Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore shipyard in China.The Boreas, named after the Greek god of the Northern winds, is purpose-built for the transport and installation of the next generation of foundations and turbines at offshore wind farms.The vessel will be the largest of its kind once operational, according to Van Oord.It measures 175 meters in length and has a 155-metre-high boom…

Van Oord has finished dredging two new port basins in Ain Sokhna Port, successfully completing a project that forms part of a port expansion program meant to improve and develop the Suez Canal Economic Zone and harness the potential of the Suez Canal as a global hub for maritime transport.The General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone and the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Egypt awarded Van Oord the contract to dredge approximately 21 million cubic meters of soil to create two new port basins.

Van Oord has installed over a quarter of the foundations which will support Sofia offshore wind farm’s 100 wind turbines in the North Sea since the start of operations in May.The Dutch contractor Van Oord is using the Port of Tyne’s Clean Energy Park as a storage and marshalling base, benefitting from direct access to its deep-water quay and connection to the North Sea.The port has been welcoming the tallest offshore installation vessel in its history, the Aeolus. Purpose-built to construct offshore wind farms…

Vattenfall has signed a multi-year framework contract with Van Oord for the charter of the jack-up vessel, MPI Resolution, which will be tasked with offshore wind turbine maintenance.The contract will provide guaranteed availability of the vessel for several months each year, primarily during the peak maintenance season from early March to late October.With an option to extend beyond the initial term, the partnership marks a substantial step forward in Vattenfall's operational efficiency…

Van Oord has successfully completed the construction of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) jetty at Wilhelmshaven in Germany for its client Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET).The project was managed by FSRU Wilhelmshaven, a joint venture between ENGIE and TES. By leveraging its experience in dredging, infrastructure and offshore energy, the client and Van Oord developed a tailor-made integrated solution for the project.In order to expedite the process, monopiles, mainly used for offshore wind turbines…

Dutch maritime start-up accelerator PortXL has presented its 2024 cohort and connected them to partners and mentors.The Matchmaking Monday event took place at the RDM, the Rotterdam space for innovative companies, technology education, high-quality test facilities and field labs.For the partners and PortXL’s team this was the conclusion of months of gathering industry questions and problems, and finding and evaluating start-ups and scale-ups to match these challenges. In the coming months the innovators will go through the program with the goal of collaborating with industry players…

Van Oord’s new cable laying vessel (CLV) Calypso is gearing up for its debut at RWE’s 1.4 GW Sofia offshore wind farm in the UK.The inter-array cables have been loaded onto Calypso CLV at the Port of Blyth in the UK, ahead of its first job at RWE’s biggest offshore wind, according to Van Oord, which secured the contract for the installation of monopile foundations and cables back in 2021.Built by Vard, the vessel is 130 meters long and has a beam of 28 meters.The DP2 Calypso is equipped with a below-deck cable carousel and a second carousel on deck…

Dutch offshore installation firm Van Oord has secured a contract from RWE for the transport and installation of monopile foundations for the Nordseecluster offshore wind project in Germany.This project will be the first project for the Van Oord’s brand-new offshore installation vessel Boreas, which is currently under construction.Van Oord’s scope includes the installation of 104 extended monopiles as well as the installation of the scour protection. In 2025, 44 monopiles are planned…

Van Oord said it has finished the dredging of the outer channel to the Port of Suape in the Northeast of Brazil. The dredging of the channel up to 20 meters enables the port to handle larger, more efficient, container and (liquid) bulk vessels.Van Oord has deepened the access channel to the Port of Suape from 15 to 20 meters. To execute the project, Van Oord deployed various dredgers to meet the challenges of the project. It is a major milestone for Van Oord and for the Port of Suape that the project has now been completed.Tim Helbo…

Dutch offshore installation firm Van Oord has secured a contract from the Spanish energy company Iberdrola for the construction of the German Windanker offshore wind farm.Van Oord's scope includes the transport and installation of 21 XL monopiles and transition pieces and the design, supply and installation of the inter-array cable grid.Windanker will have an installed capacity of 315 MW. The development of the wind farm is in line with Germany’s plans to develop 30 GW of offshore…

Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel Aeolus has installed the first monopile foundation at RWE’s Sofia Offshore Wind Farm, located on Dogger Bank in the central North Sea.With a capacity of 1.4 GW, Sofia is RWE’s largest offshore wind farm to date. After its expected commissioning in 2026, the project will be capable of generating enough electricity to power the equivalent of 1.2 million typical UK homes.Following the installation of the essential subsea cable infrastructure…

Van Oord has launched its new offshore installation vessel Boreas at the Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore shipyard in China.The Boreas’ dual fuel engine set is able to run on methanol and is purpose-built for the transport and installation of the next generation foundations and turbines at offshore wind farms.The vessel is expected to be commercially available in 2025, according to Van Oord.Upon completion, the Boreas will be the largest vessel of its kind.The vessel measures 175 meters in length and has a crane with a 155-metre-high boom, able to lift over 3,000 tonnes.

Van Oord’s Svanen vessel has received a major upgrade which increased its total height to 125 meters, making it one of the largest heavy-lift vessels in the world suitable for handling the next generation of monopile foundations for offshore wind.Svanen grew 25 meters taller with the installation of an A-framed gantry extension, weighing 1,200 tonnes, on top of the vessel.The extension had been constructed by Holland Shipyard. One of the largest cranes in the world was used for the installation at Mammoet Schiedam.Besides the gantry extension…

The end may be in sight, but the race for bigger cranes is still having an impact on offshore wind project efficiency.The industry has already felt the need for upgrading crane lifting capacity on existing offshore wind installation vessels: NOV is upgrading the cranes on Cadeler’s existing O-class wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs), and a gantry crane extension will soon make Van Oord’s Svanen one of the largest floating heavy-lift installation vessels.It’s a newbuild phenomenon too. NOV has developed a telescoping leg encircling crane for Shimizu’s GustoMSC-designed WTIV Blue Wind.

Van Oord’s cutter suction dredger Biesbosch and trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Apolonia are teaming up to dredge the Prinses Amaliahaven located on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.A consortium of Van Oord, HOCHTIEF and Ballast Nedam has constructed 2.4 kilometres of new quay wall. The new quays are being dredged to a depth of more than 20 metres below sea level. This development means that the Port of Rotterdam Authority is ensuring an expansion of container capacity in Rotterdam.In total 1…

Van Oord concluded 2023 with revenue reaching record high and profits more than doubled.The company saw revenue growth across both its Dredging & Infra and Offshore Energy business units, which resulted in a significantly revenue increase of 42% to EUR 2.9 billion from EUR 2.0 billion in 2022.Net profit doubled to EUR 127 million from EUR 60 million in 2022. High fleet utilisation and the continued sharp focus on risk and contract management contributed to the improved results.The order book increased by 3% to EUR 4…