DEME’s new offshore installation vessel ‘Orion’ has been launched at the COSCO Qidong shipyard in China on Wednesday.
Orion will be deployed for the construction of the offshore wind farms, to service the oil and gas industry and for the decommissioning of offshore installations.
With a total installed capacity of 44,180 kW, Orion will be equipped with a Liebherr crane with a lifting capacity of 5,000 tonnes.
Orion can take the heaviest monopiles, jackets, wind turbine components and structures in a single shipment, and can transport and install the next generation of multi-megawatt wind turbines, DEME explained.
The vessel has dual fuel engines and can run on liquefied natural gas (LNG). It will have a Green Passport and Clean Design notation.
At 216.5 meters long, Orion features DP3 capability. The vessel is expected to join the fleet at the end of 2019.