Feature 1 | CHINA
industry worldwide as
the industry
undergoes a structural change in the future. The market for LNG carriers and large-scale offshore engineering equipment
should remain active,
while shipowners would favour new vessel types which meet international shipbuilding standards. Thus, China Rongsheng Heavy Industries is now
devoting resources to the R&D of high-value added vessel types, so as to cope with market changes and enhance its development
with high-tech
high-value added products,” he says. Chen says a lack of advanced technology
has prevented over one-third of Chinese shipyards from receiving orders in 2012. “It will be difficult to secure new orders of
Blowing in the wind
China is getting in on the wind installation craze, reports Sam Chambers hina has
installation vessels. Up until this summer Cosco Shipyard Group was China’s sole builder of this ship type, but now it has been joined by Jiangsu Jiaolong Heavy Industry Group (JHI) who announced in June that it will build a wind turbine installation vessel for an undisclosed Singapore owner for delivery in the third quarter of 2013. Te 2008-founded shipbuilder joins Cosco
C
Shipyard’s Nantong and Qidong subsidiaries in offering this high-tech ship type. Te new self-propelled, self-elevating
offshore installation vessel was made by JHI’S Singapore-based subsidiary JHI Engineering with basic design engineering done by US naval architects Bennett & Associates. The DP-2 vessel has a long-boom
600-tonne crane and is designed to undertake wind turbine installation, repair, construction and maintenance. With four 95m legs, the vessel can operate
in water depths of more than 60m, and it is understood the vessel is being developed with Chinese waters in mind. JHI already has experience in the wind
industry through Renewable Energy Asia Group, a Singapore-listed subsidiary that operates wind and solar projects in China. Te company has set up another venture
with Chinese power company Datang called Renewable Energy Asia Technology and Engineering, which will provide steel structures to Datang’s 300MW offshore wind farm at Binhai in northeast China. Cosco Shipyard, meanwhile, has delivered two wind turbine installation vessels to MPI
76
Offshore and is now building two more for Denmark’s A2Sea. MPI’s two ships were designed by
GustoMSC. Key features on the two MPI vessels include the 1,000tonne capacity main crane, plus a 50tonne capacity auxiliary crane, accommodation capacity for 112 persons, and an ability to jack up with 6,000tonnes of cargo onboard. Tey have a maximum operation depth of 40m. MPI Offshore claims that they are “the
world’s most advanced and most efficient wind turbine installation vessels,” in terms of jacking speed, deck space, liſting capacity and positioning capabilities (DP2). Meanwhile, the A2Sea ships are coming
along, with one to deliver this year and another in 2014. One boasts a crane capacity of 900tonnes and the other has an 800tonnes capacity crane. Te ships are equipped with Voith Schneider
Propellers and Voith Inline Trusters. With an overall length of 132m, a breadth
of 39m the larger of the two ships, costing US$155million, is capable of carrying 60 staff as well as eight to 10 complete wind
a second company
capable of building the growing niche segment that is wind turbine
Cosco Shipyard celebrates the delivery of a wind turbine installation vessel
traditional vessel types. However, orders for high-value vessels such as very large container ships are expected to remain steady. Te current market situation will guide the shipbuilding industry into a period of restructuring and polarisation. Tis tendency will further broaden the gap between leading shipyards and greenfield shipyards,” he says. NA
turbines, while the smaller ship can carry eight turbines. Classification society Bureau Veritas has
recently published guidance for designers and builders of wind farm service ships. Maxime Pachot, offshore service vessel
manager at Bureau Veritas, says: “Although some of the existing Offshore Service Vessel fleet can perform the tasks necessary for developing and maintaining offshore wind farms, we see an increasing need for specialist craſt. Tese will include specialised vessels for servicing offshore wind farms. These will have particular characteristics and to be efficient they will have to be new designs. Tat means they need new class rules and guidance for designers and yards.” Bureau Veritas’ new guidance notation
for wind farms service ships is aimed at maximising the efficiency of new offshore wind farm service vessels. “Tese vessels have to move people quickly in rough offshore sea conditions, transferring maintenance personnel from shore or mother ships onto turbines,” Pachot explains. “Tat is why we have come up with a specific notation.” NA
The Naval Architect September 2012
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