Seaway 7’s jack-up vessel, Seaway Ventus, has left the Borkum Riffgrund 3 project and is not expected to return. In late September, the vessel wrapped up its work at BR3 and headed to the Walney Extension for maintenance, marking its first maintenance assignment since its delivery.
Seaway Ventus has had minimal downtime since its delivery, going straight into operation upon its arrival in Europe, working on the Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 projects in the German North Sea. After completing turbine installation for Ørsted in the German North Sea, the vessel moved to another Ørsted project, Walney Extension in the Irish Sea, in late September.
Seaway Ventus is showcasing the versatility of a jack-up vessel, transitioning from turbine installation to maintenance work. Once the maintenance is completed, the vessel will begin preparing for monopile installation at the East Anglia project. This type of flexibility is exactly what the market demands, and it is reflected in the new-build pipeline, which is dominated by jack-up vessels.
As long as a jack-up vessel has the crane capacity and structural strength, it can handle the installation tasks. Foundation weight has been a major concern regarding vessel availability, with the common belief that some foundations will exceed the capacity of all jack-up vessels. While this may be true for certain projects requiring heavy-lift vessels, there will undoubtedly be many projects where the foundation weight remains within the lifting capacity of the competitive jack-up fleet.
Image source: Seaway 7
