GL classes WTIS Pacific Orca
GL Group (Germanischer Lloyd) under the contract with Service Pacific Offshore Operations has performed a classification of the wind turbine installation ship (WTIS) Pacifica Orca, the classification society said.
The Pacific Orca is the largest wind farm installation ship ever built, with a length of 161 metres, a breadth of 49 metres and a depth of 10.4 metres. The vessel is capable of carrying and installing up to twelve wind turbine units of the 3.6 MW class. The Pacific Orca can install foundations and erect turbines in water depths of up to 60 metres. Looking at future projects, this WTIS will also be able to install very large wind turbines with a rated output of 10 MW. The ship is capable of lifting herself up to 17 metres above sea level. This minimises the impact of waves and wind during installation operations.
This was a truly collaborative project involving several business segments of the GL Group. GL Noble Denton undertook the engineering and design work for the legs, spud-cans and the jacking system, including FMEA, as well as integration of these components into the ship’s hull. They also provided the shipyard consultancy and site-specific assessment services. Future- Ship, a GL company, carried out the global strength and fatigue analyses for the ship afloat and was responsible for owner consultancy. And GL as a classification society conducted the in-place analysis in jacked-up mode and provides the classification services for the “Pacific Orca”.
GL had published new rules for Hull Structures of offshore service vessels as early as 2010. These rules have recently been supplemented by a set of classification rules for crew boats and offshore wind farm service craft.
The WTIS Pacific Orca in July 2012 was delivered by Samsung Heavy Industries to Danish operator DONG Energy.
GL has recently announced its new “WindServer” wind farm service trimarans designed by Fjellstrand for World Marine Offshore. This project comprises two 30 m and four 25 m ships. Their designer improved access to offshore installations in difficult weather conditions, enhanced the fuel efficiency, reduced the running costs and ensured the safety of the personnel on board, all pursuant to GL’s rules. The boats will have a service speed of 25 knots and the capacity to carry 25 and 12 service personnel, respectively. The trimarans are scheduled to go into service as early as March 2013.
Hamburg-headquartered the Germanischer Lloyd (GL) is a leading classification society.GL Group consists of three major business fields: ship classification, oil and gas, and renewables. Germanischer Lloyd conducts safety surveys on more than 7,000 ships with over 100 Mio GT. Its technical and engineering services also include the mitigation of risks and assurance of technical compliance for oil, gas and industrial installations as well as wind energy parks.
