By Keld Rasmussen

SEA CHALLENGER began her journey from the Qidong shipyard in China to Denmark at the end of March. The excitement is certainly growing at A2SEA about the prospect of SEA INSTALLER’s sister vessel joining our fleet of offshore wind installation vessels.

Recent weeks have seen SEA CHALLENGER move from the Qidong shipyard to the Zhou Shan shipyard – and back again. Although the bulk of the construction work has been carried out at Qidong, the journey to Zhou Shan was necessary in order to carry out the jack-up tests, which required firm and dry ground.

Being a mountainous area, the Zhou Shan dock’s seabed consists mainly of bedrock, which is hard enough to withstand the concentrated loads exerted by the legs. While in Zhou Shan, we ran load tests of the main crane, which is designed to lift up to 900 tonnes – 100 tonnes more than SEA INSTALLER.

But of course, we wanted to be sure, so we successfully tested it with an excess of 10 percent. This involved lifting a large tank of water weighing 990 tonnes.

SEA CHALLENGER will feature a retractable bow thruster as part of her dynamic positioning system. While jacked up, we took the opportunity to install the thruster from below.

Sea trials

After a busy period in Zhou Shan, we undertook the first sea trials, after which SEA CHALLENGER returned to Qidong for final fit-up and the remaining sea trials.

The sea trials are an extensive process involving tests such as a 12-hour unmanned engine room tests to determine whether the vessel’s machinery can run by itself if the need arises. In addition to speed, fuel consumption, dead ship recovery, manoeuvring tests, a long list of other specific tests are performed as part of the standard testing procedure required for vessel commissioning.

No shortcuts are taken, and in addition to this extensive testing, the Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) report has been prepared and failure recovery demonstrated in the second sea trial.

Following this, the crew are preparing for the transit voyage to Denmark, which take SEA CHALLENGER through Singapore, Sri Lanka, the Suez Canal, Spain and finally to Denmark, where she is expected by the end of May.

 

Dangerous waters

The short stopover in Singapore is significant for a number of reasons. Since the voyage to Denmark will take her through notoriously dangerous waters, protective measures against piracy will be taken, including equipping her with armoured plating and barbed wire.

The risk of piracy is lower than it used to be due to the increased protection offered by naval ships, but we need to be prepared for anything. Another preventative measure involves sailing with a minimum crew between Sri Lanka and Suez.

The work never stops

The time at sea during the voyage to Sri Lanka and again from Suez will be put to good use as all the supplies and spare parts loaded onto the vessel in Singapore will be systematically categorised and stored to ensure that everything is ready for optimal working operations.

After more than two years of hard work at the shipyards and at head office, the day is almost upon us when we welcome SEA CHALLENGER to Danish waters.

And that’s just the beginning. Soon after arrival in Denmark, the mobilisation work for her first job will start. Stay posted for more information about her official launch.

Quick facts about SEA CHALLENGER

SEA CHALLENGER is a self-propelled jack-up vessel 132 metres long and 39 metres wide designed to meet the trend toward even larger offshore wind turbines.

Optimised to operate at depths of up to 45 metres and equipped with 83-metre legs and a 94-metre main crane, she is well suited to Northern Europe conditions.

 

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