Jan De Nul’s NextGen heavy lift vessel Les Alizés has left the CMHI HaimenShipyard in China and is currently heading for Europe.

The vessel was delivered by the shipyard on January 16 and departed January 19 for Germany.

Les Alizés is specifically designed for loading, transporting, lifting and installing offshore wind turbine foundations. The main features are a main crane of 5,000 tons, a deck loading capacity of 61,000 tons and a deck space of 9,300 m².

With these characteristics, the vessel can easily transport the heavier future foundations, several in one trip, to the offshore installation site, with direct benefits in planning, fuel consumption and emissions reduction. Les Alizés is a crane vessel for floating installation, which means that she is not dependent on the water depths and the seabed conditions.

Les Alizés’ maiden voyage sets sail to Europe for her first mission in Germany: the transport and installation of 107 monopile foundations and one offshore substation topside at Ørsted’s Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farms.