Huisman has been awarded a contract by Van Oord for the delivery of a leg encircling crane for the latter’s new offshore wind installation vessel.
The crane will be the largest leg encircling unit that Huisman has developed to date in terms of lifting capacity, boom length, installed power and technical features.
It will have a fully electrically driven system, resulting in high positioning accuracy, reduced maintenance and high reliability.
The crane’s energy grid reduces the energy consumption, while an in-house developed slew bearing system helps with positioning.
Other features include a boom design that makes it stiff and lighter in weight, with a small tail swing allowing for optimised use of free deck space.
The work scope includes the design, engineering and construction of the crane at Huisman’s production facility in Zhangzhou, China.
The crane will be delivered and integrated in close cooperation with the vessel’s designer Knud E Hansen at Yantai CIMC Raffles Shipyard in China, scheduled for 2023.
Van Oord chief executive Pieter van Oord said: “This investment prepares us for the increase in scale in the offshore wind industry and allows us to maintain our leadership position.
“The crane to be delivered by Huisman will support us to achieve that target.”
Huisman chief executive David Roodenburg said: “We are very proud of this order from Van Oord, who has been a frontrunner in the offshore wind industry since 2002.
“We fully support their ambition to make offshore wind a more competitive energy source and are grateful for their trust in us to build our largest LEC to date.
“With this contract, we can build on the success of the 1,600mt LEC for the Aeolus and once again show our commitment to work on continuous product improvement and new technical solutions.”