Brave Tern Wind Farm Installation Vessel, Malta

Brave Tern is a purpose-built heavy-lift jack-up vessel being built for Fred Olsen Windcarrier. The new self elevating and self propelled vessel is being manufactured by Lamprell at its Jebel Ali facility, in Dubai. The vessel was successfully launched in February 2012 and is expected to be delivered in the second quarter of the year.

The vessel is being constructed for use in the offshore wind farm market. Weighing 14,800t, she has the distinction of being the largest wind farm installation vessel to be built in the Middle East.

She will carry and install wind turbines as well as foundations at offshore locations. She will also be engaged in maintaining and repairing turbines.

Lamprell was awarded two engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts worth $320.4m by Fred Olsen Windcarrier in February 2010 for the design, construction and delivery of two offshore wind turbine installation vessels. The second vessel is scheduled to be delivered in the third quarter of 2012.

GustoMSC's designed purpose-built vessel for Fred Olsen Windcarrier

Brave Tern is of Gusto MSC NG-9000 design developed by the Dutch ship designer GustoMSC. The vessel is capable of undertaking fully loaded voyages to offshore installation sites at high speed. She can be deployed in water depths of up to 142ft in North Sea-like environments.

The vessel will have a large working deck with easy access. The working deck, with an area of 3,200 square metres and load capacity of 5,300t, will facilitate installation of various equipments suitable for individual operations.

The vessel will stand on four self-elevating legs, each measuring 257ft. The shape of the legs will be cylindrical and diameter will be approximately 15ft. Each leg will be installed with continuous speed jacking system and will feature a diagonal pre-loading system for smooth and quick installation. Maximum leg length below the ship baseline will be about 190ft.

The overall length of the ship's hull will be 433ft and breadth will be 128ft. Depth to main deck will be will be nine metres, while minimum draft will be four metres.

Accommodation space and facilities aboard the Maltese installation ship

A total of 80 people can be accommodated onboard the Brave Tern. There are 56 cabins located at the forward end of the vessel. These cabins are installed with satellite TV / video and are provided with attached bathrooms.

Other facilities will include offices and workshops for clients. The vessel will also be provided with a fitness room, laundry and TV room.

A helicopter landing deck will be provided on the top of the deck house. Its diameter will be about 72ft and will be suitable for the operations of Sikorsky S92 / S61N or Super Puma AS 332L2 helicopters.

Hydraulic jacking system and main crane of the heavy-lift ship Brave Tern

Brave Tern will be equipped with a continuous hydraulic positive engagement jacking system designed by Gusto MSC.

Its effective jacking capacity will be 5,300t per leg, while maximum holding capacity will be 9,000t per leg. Platform lifting speed and platform lowering speed will be approximately 79ft and 98ft an hour respectively.

The vessel will be fitted with a Gusto GLC-800 electric driven rail crane. It will be located on top of the port side aft jack house and will have a maximum hoisting capacity of 800t at 79ft outreach.

The ship will also be equipped with two deck cranes, each capable of lifting 20t at 89ft radius.

Propulsion and power generation from VSPs and Wärtsilä systems

Brave Tern will be fitted out with a diesel electric propulsion plant. The propulsion for transit will be provided by three Voith Schneider propellers, each of 3,800kW capacity. This propulsion system will give the vessel a transit speed of 12kt.

The power plant will be comprised of four Wärtsilä diesel electric generator sets including two 9L32 (4,230kW), one 6L32 (2,880kW) and one 12v32 (5,760kW) generators.

Manoeuvring and positioning with a DP Class-2 control system

Brave Tern will be installed with a Dynamic Positioning (DP) Class-2 control system to automatically maintain her position and heading. For smooth manoeuvring, the vessel will be equipped with three Wärtsilä Lips tunnel thrusters, each rated at 1,750kW.