Jumbo Javelin Preparing for Installation Services
Jumbo Offshore‘s DP2 heavy lift & installation vessel Jumbo Javelin is preparing to deliver installation services for offshore wind farms. It will be able to ship and install Transition Pieces (TP’s) for wind turbines. To get the vessel ready for its first assignment, a set of fifteen temporary living quarters, additional life saving appliances, nine TP-supporting foundations, a complete grouting plant, specialized lifting equipment, supporting auxiliary equipment and an Ampelmann have been installed. It will be the first time that Transition Pieces will be placed on monopiles from a free floating vessel on DP.
The advantage of using a DP positioned heavy lift vessel compared to the conventional method of moving and installing these pieces, is that the vessel is used for transporting a considerable load of TP’s, fast transit to the installation site and the installation on the monopile. Another advantage is that the relocation from one position to the next is a relatively fast one, as the vessel does not need to reposition anchors and jack-up.
To give crew safe access from the Jumbo Javelin to the installed TP as well as efficiently guiding the grout hoses, an Ampelmann has been installed on the vessel. The Ampelmann is a ship-based, self stabilizing platform, built by a Dutch company of the same name, which provides safe, easy and fast offshore access by actively compensating the motions of the vessel. As the Jumbo Javelin will be free floating, it will be sensitive to waves and swell. The Ampelmann will absorb the vessel motions and make a safe transfer to the Transition Piece possible.
The vessel will be able to carry nine TP’s at a time, each with a weight of approx. 285 t. All the TP’s can be stowed vertically in the hold of the vessel and transported to the offshore location site. There, the Jumbo Javelin positions itself on DP next to the monopile of the wind turbine foundation to lift the TP from the hold, onto the monopile and adjust it to required horizontal level. The leveled TP is then fixed to the monopile by pumping grout in the annulus between the pile and the Transition Piece.