Spotted: DEME Ship Loads Monopile at Rotterdam Port

In today’s spotted we bring you an image of the Innovation, a heavy-lift jack-up vessel owned by GeoSea, part of the Belgian DEME Group, which loaded a monopile at the new section of Maasvlakte 2’s deep-sea quay at the Port of Rotterdam on January 3, 2017.

The 31,440 gross ton Innovation has a 1,500-ton crane and a loading capacity of up to 8,000 tons.

The heavy-lift jack-up vessel features a length of 147.5 meters and a width of 42 meters.

Monopiles are used for the foundations of offshore wind turbines and can weigh over 1,000 tons. A total of four monopiles were loaded for transport, according to the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

The Innovation left the quay the same night, January 3, en route to Galloper, a wind farm off the coast of the United Kingdom where it will install the monopiles. This operation will be followed by a number of similar transports over the next few weeks.