Cadeler has jumped into 2024 with a major milestone in the construction of its new P-Class vessel, the Wind Peak. The company said that the vessel was launched at the Cosco Shipyard in Qidong, China. 

The launching of Wind Peak is a critical milestone that marks the completion of the vessel’s hull. “Leading up to this great achievement is two years of intricate engineering and 18 months of construction with an uncompromising focus on safety and efficiency. Now, the design of numbers and pixels is transformed into a real floating vessel for the future of transport and installation of offshore wind turbines,” the company said.

After the launching, the jacking legs and cranes will be installed onboard alongside various technical installations. Once that is completed, commissioning and testing of all systems will be initiated.

The sea trial is planned for mid-2024 when all ship systems will be tested by Cadeler. Testing will be completed in close collaboration with the Classification Society. Wind Peak is scheduled to be handed over to Cadeler in the third quarter of this year.

Wind Peak and its sister vessel Wind Pace are designed to operate at some of the most difficult sites around the globe and with the most advanced equipment in the industry. The vessels will offer increased transit capacity, lowering the energy intensity of installation, reducing installation time and thereby lowering total cost of installing offshore wind farms.

With a deck space of 5,600m2, a payload of over 17,600 tons and main crane capacity of above 2,500 tons at 53 meters, the two new cyber-secure vessels are very attractive to the industry. The vessels will be able to transport and install seven complete 15MW turbine sets per load or five sets of 20+ MW turbines, cutting down the number of trips needed for each project, thus accelerating installation speed and minimizing the carbon footprint.