Keel laying ceremony for offshore installation vessel Boreas
Keel laying ceremony for the offshore installation vessel Boreas took place at the YCRO yard in Yantai, China. It’s the second keel laying ceremony in the last few weeks by the company. In November, in Serbia, Van Oord celebrated the laying of the keel of a new water injection dredger (WID).
Laying the keel is a symbolically important moment in the life of any vessel. It’s a ritual that goes back centuries, and marks the moment the preparation of the construction ends, and the final phase of construction starts. It is also the moment a vessel is classified.
The keel laying is a great next step in the build of these new vessels. Van Oord expect to have both new vessels operational in 2024.
Boreas is a key strategic investment for Van Oord. The Boreas has the size (175 metres) and lifting power (over 3,000 tonnes) to transport and install 20 MW wind turbines. It can operate on methanol, significantly lowering its carbon footprint.
The new WID, as of yet unnamed, is a sister ship to our Maas and Mersey water injection dredging vessels. It will have the same specifications as the Maas and Mersey.