HOCHTIEF Solutions Commissions VIDAR Offshore Jack-Up Vessel

In the next few days, HOCHTIEF Solutions will commission a further powerful jack-up vessel for the construction of offshore wind farms. In the company of around 300 guests from the European offshore market the ship named VIDAR will officially be commissioned in Bremerhaven on December 12.

The jack-up vessel was developed especially for construction and servicing of offshore wind farms and oil and gas plants at sea. Thanks to its large deck surface, its high deck cargo and the powerful 1,200-ton crane, the ship is ideal for the safe and fast assembly of foundations and components for wind farms in the North Sea and Baltic. VIDAR can install latest-generation wind turbines of all dimensions at water depths up to 50 metres.

HOCHTIEF has chartered the jack-up vessel to a client even before completion, it will be used for blade installation at the North Sea wind farm Global Tech I from December 2013.

Marcelino Fernández Verdes, CEO of HOCHTIEF: “With VIDAR, HOCHTIEF makes an important contribution to the expansion of renewable energies. The powerful vessel speeds up processes during construction of the offshore wind farms and thus reduces costs. With our investments, we have taken responsibility for the conversion of the energy sector and are looking optimistically into the future.”

VIDAR—just like its sister vessels THOR and INNOVATION—was built at the Crist shipyard in Poland. There is market demand for this equipment and it is all working to good capacity. INNOVATION and THOR are currently being used for the installation of foundations, towers and turbines at the Global Tech I wind farm.

Martin Rahtge, Senior Vice President HOCHTIEF Solutions AG, Civil Engineering Marine and Offshore: “With VIDAR, we are putting to use our third special equipment item into service in the construction of Global Tech I. With its large deck, big payload and powerful crane, VIDAR provides for high efficiency in the project—even under harsh conditions. We are happy that we can make available VIDAR and our experienced crew to the project.”

Press release, December 12, 2013; Image: HOCHTIEF