Orion heavy lifter ready to work

The HLC295000 crane installed on Orion at the Liebherr factory in the port of Rostock, Germany

DEME Offshore’s new heavy lift installation vessel, Orion, has been tested and named prior to its first job.

Orion carries a 5,000 tonne capacity Liebherr HLC 295000 heavy lift crane for installation of offshore wind turbines. It is Liebherr’s largest crane to date.

Following the naming ceremony Orion’s first destination was to head for the Arcadis Ost wind farm around 20 kilometres north of the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea.

Belgium-headquartered DEME operates worldwide in the marine engineering sector, largely in offshore energy. In addition to wind farm construction Orion will be used for decommissioning oil and gas platforms.

An important job to do
Luc Vandenbulcke, DEME Group CEO, said, “Orion heralds a new era in the offshore energy industry – one which will be dominated by multi-megawatt turbines, jackets and components. The combination of load capacity and superior lifting heights of Orion will enable DEME to play an important role in helping the industry successfully navigate the energy transition.”

Commenting from Liebherr at the vessel naming, Robert Pitschmann, global application manager heavy lift offshore, said, “What we are witnessing here, is indeed a very memorable event. Fundamentally, it demonstrates what is achieved, when people are closely working together, especially alongside with a competent and reliable partner. Today, we are proud. In an extraordinary effort, our team at Liebherr brought this heavy lift crane up on this ship so now everyone can see what has been accomplished.”

The HLC 295000 offers a maximum lifting height of 175 metres and an outreach of 151 metres. One of its key features is the 16.8 metre diameter of its base column. Liebherr said this is unique in the market, maximising space on deck for storage of turbine components or allowing transport of larger pieces of decommissioned platforms.

Orion at sea with the 5,000 tonne crane stowed