Ulstein introduces HX121 heavy transport vessel design for offshore wind

Ulstein is introducing their HX121, the latest and largest design in ULSTEIN’s portfolio of heavy transport vessel. The ULSTEIN HX121 has been developed as a high efficient heavy transport vessel to serve the growing needs in offshore wind and heavy project cargoes.

The design features an ULSTEIN X-BOW® to improve seakeeping, maximized deck space and optimized aft ship for low fuel consumption, resulting in an effective and balanced design relying on proven technologies, which optionally can furnish DP2.

HX121 transparent

The current fleet of heavy transport vessels doesn’t meet the future demand of the offshore wind segment, Ulstein mentions. Over 380 GW of offshore wind capacity, across 32 markets, is predicted to be added in the next ten years. Besides a substantial fleet of installation vessels, also new tonnage is needed to transport the foundations and wind turbines from worldwide fabrication locations to marshalling ports or offshore fields.

Fulfilling the requirements for the next generation project cargo

Traditionally, the offshore wind sector has made use of barges or semi-submersible heavy lift vessels for the transportation of wind turbine components however the market is looking for more efficient and low emission vessels to transport large components. The ULSTEIN HX121 has been developed in close contact with industry partners to find the key requirements for this next generation of heavy transport vessels.

Edwin van Leeuwen, Managing Director at Ulstein Design & Solutions BV.

According to Dolf Manschot, Project Manager at Ulstein Design & Solutions BV, the Ulstein Blended Design method was used to find the optimal main dimensions and service speed for efficiently transporting large wind components, minimizing the fuel consumption per transported component. In addition, Ulstein focused on load and unload cargo making use of roll on roll off technology.

Methanol Powered

The vessel has been fully prepared to run on methanol.

“To fulfill the market demand for low emission vessels, the ULSTEIN HX121 is designed to also operate on methanol fuel. Powering the vessel with Green methanol would dramatically reduce the carbon footprint, while E-methanol could even reduce the carbon footprint to zero. As a marine fuel methanol has many advantages, it is the safest alternative fuel, easy to store and relatively inexpensive to produce.”

Source: Ulstein

Dolf Manschot

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