Page 53: of Marine Technology Magazine (June 2012)

Unique Maritime Group recently announced two key proj- ects involving buoyancy systems provided by Seaß ex Ltd. The London Array is an offshore wind farm under construction in the outer Thames Estuary in the U.K. With 1,000 MW ca- pacity, it is expected to become the worldÕs largest offshore wind farm. Seaß ex products played a key role in three critical phases of the construction:  Assistance with the  oat out of heavy gauge steel monopiles, on top of which each wind tur- bine is mounted  The installation of the export power cable to the onshore power management station in Kent  The  nal connection of the power cable to each wind turbine Seaß ex were contacted by Ballast Nedam B.V. with the re- quest to supply bespoke buoyancy modules to be Þ tted inside mono piles prior to tow out to the site off the Kent coast from Vlissingen in Holland. Each monopile was of tubular steel construction at 4.5m diameter and up to 65m long. With a wall thickness of 75mm Ð 80mm each monopile weighed in the region of 400t. Seaß ex were contracted to manufacture 6 x 88t Inß atable Buoyancy Units with a diameter of 4.5m and 6m in length to suit a standard pile. Each buoyancy unit was double skinned for added protection against the inner wall of the monopiles. It was decided two sets would be needed to enable one set to be in use while the other was on itÕs return trip to Vlissingen, keeping the project on schedule. Visser and Smit contacted Seaß ex for the remaining two phases, to connect the export power cable from the cable lay Giving Heavy Loads a Lift Marine Buoyancy Solutions Giving Heavy Loads a Lift Project at a GlanceProblem: Safe, ef Þ icent tow out of offshore windfarm monopiles from Kent to Vlissingen in Holland Solution: Seaß ex Ltd. in ß atable buoyancy units www.uniquegroup.com www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 53MTR #5 (50-64).indd 53MTR #5 (50-64).indd 535/31/2012 1:19:36 PM5/31/2012 1:19:36 PM