Jan De Nul Group has named its latest addition to the fleet Taillevent.
The naming ceremony took place today (25 October) in the Belgian port of Ostend. Miss Pauline Stassijns, granddaughter of Director Dirk De Nul, christened the vessel.
Transport and Installation of Wind Turbines and Foundations
Jan De Nul acquired the offshore installation vessel, at that time the MPI Discovery, from the Dutch company Vroon Group on 18 July. The 2011 built Taillevent is designed specifically for the transport and installation of offshore wind turbines and their foundations. It is also perfectly suited to other offshore sectors, such as the oil and gas industry.
The vessel is equipped with six spuds to lift the vessel out of the water in order to be able to work in stable conditions. The Taillevent is 140 metres long and can operate in up to 40 metres of water depth. Furthermore, this installation vessel has an on-board crane with a lifting capacity of 1,000 tonnes and an auxiliary crane of 50 tonnes.
Investments in Offshore Activities
Jan De Nul Group has been investing in staff, expertise and equipment to strengthen its offshore activities. In 2015, the company acquired the Vole au vent, followed by the Taillevent this summer. Both are specialised vessels suited to the installation of offshore wind farms. The company's new building department is working on more fleet expansion plans.
Offshore Wind Projects
Jan De Nul Group has executed several offshore wind projects in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Germany. Last spring, Jan De Nul secured its first offshore wind projects outside Europe: the design and installation of the offshore wind parks Changhua and Formosa 1 Phase 2, the very first offshore wind farms in Taiwan.
Taillevent
All of Jan De Nul Group's vessel names refer to significant historical figures: explorers, important scientists, creative engineers, pioneering cartographers, ground breaking artists and architects that have one thing in common: the art and passion for innovation and progress.
The Taillevent has been named after a chef who played a prominent role in French culinary history. Guillaume Tirel (1310-1395) was nicknamed Taillevent, meaning “cutting the wind”, because of the agility with which he flashed through the kitchen. He served three French kings wrote one of the oldest and most influential cookbooks of France: ‘Le Viandier’ in 1830.
