On the North Sea, Boskalis’ subsea rock installation vessel Seapiper has started its first installation project in Europe. The vessel recently loaded more than 13,800 tonnes of rock in Norway.
In recent years, the Seapiper has been mainly active in Taiwan and Australia, and now it has started a new chapter in Europe.
Interestingly, while this is the first time the Seapiper has set sail to Europe in its current form, the continent is certainly not unfamiliar territory. The last time the vessel was active in Europe, it sailed under a different name – Fjell – as a semi-submersible heavy transport vessel. In that role, the vessel transported dozens of heavy cargoes across the world.
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Vessel modification
Since then, however, a lot has changed. In 2022, the hull was modified to reduce resistance when sailing and manoeuvring as a subsea rock installation vessel, the accommodation was upgraded, and the deck received a complete makeover. This included the installation of a moonpool, a fallpipe tower, and an inclined fallpipe on the aft deck.
Now, as Seapiper, the vessel recently arrived in Europe, making its debut on the continent. Boskalis executes the project in a joint venture with DEME Group, installing many tens of thousands of tonnes of rock for Equinor.
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Seapiper
The Seapiper was originally built in 2000 but was converted to a subsea rock installation vessel in 2022. The DP2 vessel now measures 147.24 x 36 metres and has been operating as a subsea rock installation vessel since May 2023. Boskalis chose to convert the vessel due to the increasing demand for rock installation in offshore wind farms.
The Seapiper is equipped with not one, but two fall pipes, similar to Boskalis’ Rockpiper and future Windpiper. According to Boskalis, the vessels have a regular fall pipe in the heart of the vessel and an inclined fall pipe on the back of the starboard side. This second fallpipe allows the vessels to install rocks at a certain angle around already installed structures very precisely.
Rock dumping capacity of the vessel is about 2000 tonnes per hour to a maximum depth of 500 meters below the surface through the regular fallpipe. With the inclined fall pipe, which can vary in length between 23 and over 50 metres, rock can be accurately installed to a depth of about 70 metres. Loaded sailing speed is about 11.5 knots and the vessel is equipped with two azimuth thrusters and one bow thruster. The vessel sails under the flag of Cyprus.
‘Thanks to an advanced multi-cylinder mechanism, this fall pipe can rotate to an angle of no less than 225 degrees. That is impressive and unmatched in the industry,’ says Captain Rob de Lange of the Seapiper in Boskalis’ magazine Creating New Horizons. ‘This allows us to literally reach further than similar vessels also operating in Taiwan, and it also gives us much more flexibility during rock installation for an offshore wind farm.’
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Windpiper
In January, Boskalis announced it would be converting another vessel into a subsea rock installation vessel. With impressive dimensions of 227 metres in length and 40 metres in breadth, the powerful vessel boasts a total installed power exceeding 31,000 kW. With a cargo capacity of 45,500 metric tonnes, it will be the largest vessel of this type in the industry.
This vessel, to be named Windpiper, is expected to join the Boskalis fleet in the first quarter of 2026. Like the Seapiper, this vessel will also be fitted with two fallpipes. Boskalis reports that the Windpiper will initially be deployed on European projects, most likely in the North Sea.
Picture by Boskalis.
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