(With extra pictures) Damen ARNO Dunkerque, part of the Damen Shiprepair & Conversion Group, has given a new set of “feet” to the world’s first purpose-built offshore wind turbine installation and maintenance vessel, the 2003-built MPI Resolution.
The yard has carried out upgrades on the feet or “spudcans” of all the jack-up vessel’s six legs to give them the additional strength they need to withstand the huge loads to which they are subjected when spudding on rocky seabeds.
Sandwich Plate System
The operation, which is thought to be the first of kind, involved strengthening the spudcans through the use of the innovative Sandwich Plate System (SPS) developed by Intelligent Engineering (UK) Ltd. SPS is a new generation composite building material comprising two metal plates bonded with a polyurethane elastomer core.
In the case of the MPI Resolution, the original 40 mm steel plating on the spudcans was bonded with a 40 mm layer of polyurethane elastomer to a second 40 mm high strength steel plate. An upgrade of the spudcans had become necessary to enable the MPI Resolution to work on the Humber Gateway wind farm project currently under construction off the east coast of England.
MPI Resolution
The MPI Resolution is a jack-up vessel measuring 130 by 38 m. It is transformed from ship to stable work platform, clear of the surface of the sea, through the use of a hydraulic jacking system which raises it at a rate of 0.5 m per minute. It is equipped with 600 and 50 tonne cranes and has accommodation for up to 30 crew and 40 installation personnel.
Damen ARNO Dunkerque carried out the steel work in collaboration with Intelligent Engineering in an operation which was carried out in conjunction with the vessel’s ten-year survey and drydocking, as well as extensive refitting operations. The whole operation was completed within a month.
Below some extra pictures of the MPI Resolution at Damen Dunkerque. To view them in their proper dimensions, please click the pop-out link (the little squares at the bottom).
