Page 49: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2021)

In the Shipyard

Ship of the Month

OHT’s

Alfa

Lift

By Greg Trauthwein lfa Lift, the world’s largest custom-built offshore mode. “This was a novel idea, at that point in time (in 2016 wind foundation installation vessel, is a beast. when discussions on Alfa Lift began) nobody was doing it.

Measuring 216.3 x 56 m with an 8m draft, Alfa First was software development to analyze the behavior of the

ALift features a Liebherr 3,000-ton main crane and a total system to help deliver the best solution,” said Edwin van 10,000+ square meter “smart deck” designed to carry and in- Leeuwen, Managing Director, Ulstein Design & Solutions stall up to 14 XL monopiles or 12 jackets per voyage, in water BV. So the design process did not begin with the ship struc- depths up to 35 meters. Kongsberg Maritime, under a contract ture, which would be the norm in most projects. “It’s human with MacGregor, will deliver a Pile Gripper Guidance Sys- nature to start with what you know, but if you are designing tem (PGGS); MAN Energy Solutions won the order to supply unexplored territory like Alfa Lift, you really need to dig deep the engines. MAN ES will supply four MAN 12V32/44CR (? rst) into aspects that you don’t know.”

GenSets with a total output of 28,800 kW for the ship. All “We have a unique concept in Alfa Lift, to install mono- told the ship will have capacity to can carry cargoes of up to piles as a conveyor belt-type machine,” said Torgeir Ramstad, 48,500 tons. CEO, OHT, in a recent interview with sister-publication Off-

Norway’s OHT is currently building the Alfa Lift, an Ulstein shore Engineer.

Design & Solutions BV-designed ship, at China Merchants “When we went to the ship designer, we didn’t come with

Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu, China. It was the normal standard metrics – this long, this wide, this dead- ordered on speculation, but subsequently it secured a contract weight (etc.),” said Ramstad. “We went and said, ‘Do you for work on Dogger Bank phases A&B, which when complet- think it’s possible to design a vessel that can install monopiles ed will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world. in one day? And that includes the positioning, the lowering of the monopiles, the piling, the transition piece installation, the

Brawn & Brains bolting and grouting, and the sailing and the transiting and the

Due for delivery at the end of 2021, Alfa Lift is packed with loading time. So counting the time from you leave port until innovation and capability, including the ability to install off- you’re back fully loaded and ready to leave again.” shore wind foundations while in Dynamic Positioning (DP) “For a naval architect, there’s always a combination of re- www.marinelink.com 49

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