Siemens unveils cargo giant

Siemens has taken the wraps off a new ‘roll on/roll off’ cargo vessel specifically designed for transporting wind turbine components.

The 141-metre long and 20-metre wide Rotra Vente vessel has a specially-developed bow and extendable ramp that makes it possible to drive components to and from the cargo deck.

The cargo deck can carry multiple 8MW nacelles, or up to nine tower sections or four rotor blade sets per trip, Siemens said.

The deck is covered by a telescopic roof to protect the nacelles from seawater spray, it added.

Siemens said the roof can be opened so that cargo can also be loaded by cranes.

The Rotra Vente will connect Siemens’ new manufacturing site in Cuxhaven with installation harbours in the North and Baltic Seas, the company said. It was unveiled at an event in Esbjerg today.

It added that the vessel was designed from the base of the existing hull of a container ship and was rebuilt at Holland Shipyard in Hardiinxveld-Giessendam in the Netherlands.

A second vessel, the Rotra Mare, is under construction and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017.

Image: Port of Esbjerg