Dutch equipment manufacturer Huisman has won the contract to design, construct and deliver “the biggest leg encircling crane ever installed on a wind turbine installation vessel” for Jan de Nul’s new offshore wind installation vessel Voltaire. 

The offshore wind installation vessels currently available on the market are facing more and more difficulties with the ever-increasing dimensions of wind turbines and their foundations and rotors, Jan de Nul said while announcing its order of the Voltaire at Cosco Heavy Industries last week.

To prepare its fleet for those “next generation” offshore wind turbines, which can be more than 270 metres high and are fitted with blades of 120 metres long, Jan de Nul ordered a new jack-up installation vessel with a payload of 14,000 tonnes, a 3,000 tonnes SWL main crane and twice the amount of deck space as its two other jack-up vessels, the Vole au vent and the Taillevent. 

According to Huisman, the crane of the Voltaire will be the biggest leg encircling crane ever installed on a wind turbine installation vessel and together with its flyjib will have the highest lifting height in the world.

The new crane order is the second project in a row between Jan de Nul and Huisman following an order for the world’s largest monopile gripper to be installed on the Vole au vent in the upcoming months.

“As the next generation wind turbines are becoming bigger and bigger, we keep on pioneering to develop novel and innovative solutions to install these turbines. We are therefore extremely happy with the confidence and trust that Jan De Nul placed in Huisman by awarding us with this second contract,” Huisman CEO Joop Roodenbug says. 

The Voltaire is set to join Jan de Nul’s fleet of jack-up installation vessels in 2022.