Jan De Nul has seen its newly built jack-up vessel Voltaire leave the COSCO Shipping Shipyard in China, setting course for the United Arab Emirates.

With her crane capacity of 3,200 tonnes, four immense legs of 131.94 metres, and capacity to lift 16,000 tonnes of useful cargo out of the water, Voltaire is the world’s tallest jack-up installation vessel, Jan De Nul said. The vessel’s innovative design makes it highly suitable for the installation of next-generation wind farms.

Largest Jack-Up Installation Vessel Voltaire delivered by COSCO Shipping to Jan De Nul Group from Jan De Nul on Vimeo.

With the increasing demand for decarbonisation and lower-cost green electricity, offshore wind turbine and foundation components continue to rapidly increase in size to a point where their dimensions have largely outgrown the current market installation capability.

Jan De Nul Group has placed an order in 2019 for the Voltaire, the world’s tallest and highly advanced jack-up installation vessel, and Les Alizés, an equally revolutionary floating installation vessel.

With lifting capacities of over 3,000 tonnes and 5,000 tonnes respectively, along with Jan De Nul’s existing subsea cable laying trio, these vessels will have the capability to install the complete requirements of next generation offshore wind.