When it was built in 2013, Fred. Olsen Windcarrier’s jack-up vessel Bold Tern was designed to carry and lift the 3.6MW turbines in use at the time. Since then, the company has set out on a mission to prepare the vessel for the latest generation of wind turbines.

What is the latest milestone in the upgrade process, the vessel was recently married with its 1,600 mt Huisman leg encircling crane (LEC) at the Keppel FELS yard in Singapore. The LEC was lifted aboard the Bold Tern through a tandem lift by Asian Hercules II and III. Asian Hercules II is a 3,200 mt floating sheerleg crane vessel while Asian Hercules III is a 5,000 mt seagoing floating sheerleg crane. Both vessels are owned by Asian Lift.

The LEC was delivered in one piece from the Chinese port of Zhangzhou onboard the Seaway Osprey. It was installed as a single lift, drastically shortening the commissioning and testing scope to just a few weeks. With the new Huisman crane, the lifting capacity of the Bold Tern has doubled, making her ready for installation of the next generation of wind turbines.

Recently, turbines have grown to be far larger and heavier, and plans for the installation of turbines up to 15MW are already in place. While this means greater efficiency for electricity generation, their size and weight present a serious challenge in terms of transportation, installation, and maintenance.

With its newly installed LEC, Fred. Olsen Windcarrier’s Bold Tern becomes one of the few in the world capable of installing these latest generation wind turbines.