On Saturday, 9 September, Van Oord celebrated adding a new hopper dredger, the Vox Alexia, and a new cable-layer, the Calypso, to its fleet. Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia of the Netherlands attended to christen her namesake.
The christening ceremony of both vessels took place at the Wilhelminakade in Rotterdam’s city centre. After the first ceremony of the Vox Alexia, Princess Alexia was given a tour of the vessel and met a number of employees, including the vessel’s crew and members of Young Van Oord, an employee association.
Watch a video of both christenings below.
‘The Vox Alexia is our third LNG-powered vessel and a prime example of Van Oord’s commitment to sustainability,’ says CEO Pieter van Oord. ‘It is a great honour that Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia has christened this vessel, which bears her name.’
Also read: Princess Alexia to christen namesake in Van Oord’s fleet
Vox Alexia
The Vox Alexia is a hopper dredger. This type of dredger collects sand, clay, sludge and soil from sea or river beds. Van Oord deploys hopper dredgers worldwide on a wide variety of projects, including coastal protection, port development, deepening of waterways and land reclamation.
Like its recently christened sister vessels, the Vox Ariane and the Vox Apolonia, the Vox Alexia is equipped with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) system and is a good example of Van Oord’s commitment to sustainability. The vessel’s LNG fuel system and energy-efficient design will significantly reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
Also read: Van Oord lands first phase of Yangtze Canal project
Calypso christening
In the afternoon, Van Oord’s brand-new cable-laying vessel Calypso was also christened in Rotterdam at the same location. The Calypso is equipped with the latest sustainable technologies and will be a key strategic addition to Van Oord’s offshore wind fleet.
The vessel was christened by Ms. Inca Cerutti. She is the wife of Niek Hoek, chairman of the Supervisory Board. After the ceremony, the christening lady and employees and guests had the opportunity to board the vessel for a guided tour.
Also read: VIDEO: Van Oord breaks own subsea rock installation world record
Sustainable cable-laying vessel
The Calypso is Van Oord’s second cable-laying vessel. It will mainly be used for installing inter-array grid and export cables for offshore wind projects worldwide. It is equipped with two cable carousels, making the vessel suitable for laying two cables simultaneously.
To reduce its carbon footprint, the Calypso has been designed with the latest sustainable technologies. Apart from the ability to run on biofuel, this hybrid vessel has future-ready engines with built-in flexibility to anticipate e-fuels. It has a large battery pack, a shore supply connection, and a state-of-the-art energy management system. This sustainable set-up will result in a more energy-efficient vessel, with significantly reduced CO2, NOx and SOx (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur oxides) emissions.
Also read: VIDEO: How Van Oord lays offshore cables with the Calypso
