Boskalis Wins $500 Million Contract for Offshore Wind Installation

Dutch heavy lift operator Boskalis has secured a wind farm foundation installation charter worth more than $500 million, demonstrating the earnings potential in the booming offshore wind space.

The contract covers all transportation and installation of the monopile foundations and substations for an unnamed offshore wind farm development, and it will make use of two specialized heavy lift crane ships. Boskalis did not specify the developer or the region, but monopiles are frequently used in the shallow waters of the European offshore wind sector. 

Both vessels are heavily-modified conversions, though the base vessel and form factor are quite different. Bokalift 1 (ex name Finesse) is a former heavy-lift semisubmersible ship with a low working deck aft of the pilothouse. Bokalift 2 is a former drillship (ex name Yan), and she is having her derrick removed and her hull widened with the addition of sponsons. Both vessels are DP2-rated for stationkeeping, and both have been fitted with ultra-high-capacity cranes - a 3,000-tonne model for Bokalift 1 and a 4,000-tonne crane for Bokalift 2. 

Conversion work on Bokalift 2 is now under way at Drydocks World in Dubai. Boskalis has reported that the new vessel's first charter will be in support of its contract for jacket installation at the Changfang and Xidao wind farm project off the coast of Taiwan. The company began early work on that project in July 2021, and the developer is expected to begin commercial operations of the wind farm in 2024. 

Boskalis' newly-announced $500 million contract for monopile installation will tie up one full ship-year of crane vessel utilization days, in addition to the equivalent of two ship-years of heavy transport vessel operation. Engineering and pre-construction work has already begun, and the work is scheduled to begin in 2023.