Game-Changing Floating Installation
Conquest Offshore believes in taking the best innovation and proven methods in preparing their Conquest MB1 barge for floating installations. The company – together with several other parties – has created an installation system for monopoles (MPs), transition pieces (TPs) and pre-piling of jackets.
Three MPs and up to sixteen TPs can be stored on deck of the 136-by-36-metre Conquest MB1 barge through the new skidding system. Upending can be done on deck or while floating. The challenge is the floating installation of the MPs, of which the specially designed motion-compensated pile gripper is essential. While hammering the pile, hydraulic cylinders actively compensate the surge, sway and heave motions of the barge to make sure that its verticality remains within limits. The gripper and the barge’s anti-heeling system create, in the words of the company, a “game changer” in offshore wind industry.
Please visit Conquest Offshore at Offshore Energy 2015, booth no. 8.079.