Van Oord christens mega jack-up | ‘Boreas is world’s largest, most sustainable offshore wind installation vessel’

Van Oord christened the latest addition to its fleet, Boreas, on June 18 in Rotterdam. The company says its new jack-up, set to soon debut on the German Nordseecluster project, is the largest and most sustainable offshore wind installation vessel in the world.

The Dutch marine contractor ordered the self-elevating vessel at the Yantai CIMC Raffles shipyard in October 2021 and took delivery of the newbuild in January this year.

After the christening ceremony, Boreas will head to its first offshore wind project, the Nordseecluster in Germany, owned by RWE and Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM).

Van Oord’s scope on Nordseecluster includes the installation of 104 monopiles for the wind turbines, as well as the installation of the foundation of the offshore substation and scour protection.

The foundation for the substation and 44 monopiles for the wind turbines at Nordseecluster A, the first phase, are planned to be installed this year, while the 60 monopiles for Nordseecluster B are scheduled for installation in 2027.

The 175-meter-long Boreas, named after the Greek god of the Northern winds, is purpose-built for the transport and installation of the next-generation foundations and wind turbines. The vessel has a crane with a 155-meter-high boom, able to lift over 3,000 tons, and can install offshore wind turbines of up to 20 MW with a total height of 300 meters.

According to its owner, the new jack-up is the first vessel of its kind equipped with dual-fuel methanol engines, and operating on methanol reduces its carbon footprint by over 78%.

Boreas also features Selective Catalytic Reduction to minimize NOx emissions and a battery pack of more than 6,000 kWh, which helps further reduce fuel consumption and emissions, Van Oord says.

“The Boreas is the largest investment in our company’s history, a testament to our ambition to remain a frontrunner in offshore wind, accelerate the energy transition and perform our work responsibly. We have been leading our industry in the adoption of more sustainable green marine fuels even more with the capability to sail on methanol. The Boreas adds a new chapter to our net-zero emission journey”, said Govert van Oord, CEO of Van Oord.

At the christening of its new vessel, Van Oord also shared that the company’s climate goals have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), making it the first marine contractor to align with the 1.5°C pathway of the Paris Agreement. Van Oord submitted its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets to the SBTi in May 2023 and had a dialogue on sector classification and used the Maritime Guidance for its fleet-related targets. SBTi formally communicated the approval of all Van Oord’s targets on June 1.