Boskalis’ semi-submersible heavy transport vessel Black Marlin has arrived at the port of La Rochelle in France laden with monopiles for the Eoliennes en Mer Iles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier project on behalf of LEMS.
The vessel transported 11 monopiles, ranging in weight between 600 and 800 tonnes, which will serve as foundations for the turbines at the wind farm off the French coast.
To make full use of the deck of Black Marlin, the Boskalis project team installed casings on the aft deck on the starboard side. This enabled the company to load 11 monopiles, with a maximum diameter of 7 m, instead of 10.
Once the components have been unloaded in La Rochelle, Black Marlin will head back to Asia to begin a second voyage to France with another 11 monopiles.
The entire transport project consists of four separate voyages. In addition to the two shipments with Black Marlin, Boskalis’ Blue Marlin is now on its way to the French coast.
Blue Marlin, which will complete two shipments for the project, has a considerably wider deck than Black Marlin due to an earlier modification. This means it can accommodate more monopiles per shipment.
