Van Oord’s Aeolus Close to Completion at Lloyd Werft
By Tom Scott
By bringing in the services of Mammoet to install four platform legs, German shipbuilders Lloyd Werft took a step closer last week to completing Van Oord’s newest jack-up wind turbine installation vessel, Aeolus.
The vessel was brought to Bremerhaven for final fitting out and leg installation at the request of Van Oord following construction at Sietas Shipyard. The dimensions of the vessel’s four legs meant that they had to be fitted outside of the port of Hamburg. Sietas noted in a statement: “The vessel is proof of the efficiency and internationally competitive expertise in construction and building services at Sietas Shipyard. It is the first time a special-purpose ship such as this has been developed and built at a German shipyard.”
Bremerhaven Specialists
Mammoet is currently utilising its Liebherr LR13000, the biggest crawler crane in the world, to complete the job. They designed, fabricated and delivered tailor-made top lifting tools and a tailing frame to ensure that the legs, which have no lifting points, can be lifted securely. Assembly of the crane at Lloyd Werft’s yard in Bremerhaven, Germany took 12 days. The first of the four 87m long steel platform legs, each weighing 920t, has already been settled into its jacking position making the most of the crane’s 130m long jib.
“We have made a good start in the new offshore market which is an exciting one and very challenging for us,” comments Lloyd Werft’s Technical Director Thorsten Beiler. Lloyd Werft is developing into a centre for high quality specialised shipbuilding especially in the wake of the fitting-out of two RWE Innogy installation vessels nearly 2 years ago. Lloyd Werft engineers and craftsmen 
were able to further expand their skills in specialised shipbuilding with these two projects.
Spudcan Installation
“We were also able to win this very interesting job because we have already demonstrated with Victoria Mathias and Friedrich Ernestine just what we are capable of,” explains Lloyd Werft Chairman Rüdiger Pallentin. The skills to which he is referring? The ability to handle complicated hydraulic machinery of unusual dimensions to install the four legs on the Aeolus.
In addition to the platform legs, Mammoet will also install four spudcans, using a specially engineered method. This method involves placing the partly rigged spudcans on the seabed, moving the 139m Aeolus over it and connecting the spudcan with the leg with the use of cranes and divers. Installation of the four legs started on 22 April and will continue round the clock for approximately 2 weeks.
Three Onboard Cranes
When the Aeolus arrived at the Lloyd Werft’s outfitting quay, a ship of similar dimensions – Bold Tern belonging to Fred.Olsen Windcarriers – was berthed alongside it for conversion work before going into service in a new operational sector. The yard is also involved in installing the vessel’s 900t onboard crane. In addition, it is building and fitting the deck reinforcements and foundations for a second 500t auxiliary crane and also for a third onboard crane, which is designed to help improve flexible working at sea.
Aeolus’ main crane comes from the former Sietas subsidiary Neuenfelder Maschinenfabrik (NMF), now part of the TTS Group. With the mobilisation of Aeolus, Van Oord aims to strengthen their position in the offshore wind installation market. The Aeolus will be operational in July 2014.
