Industry’s Largest Subsea Rock Installation Vessel in Final Preparations for First Job

Boskalis’s new subsea rock installation (SRI) vessel, described by the company as the largest in the industry, has arrived in the Netherlands for final outfitting and commissioning ahead of its first assignment later this year.

Windpiper, whose purchase Boskalis announced in January 2025, was developed by converting an existing vessel into an SRI vessel with a rock-carrying capacity of 45,500 tonnes.

The vessel arrived in Rotterdam earlier this week to undergo further outfitting in Waalhaven, as well as commissioning, after which it will go on its first rock installation project in the Baltic Sea later this year.

“A tremendous amount of work has since been done to convert the vessel into the state-of-the-art subsea rock installation vessel Windpiper. This included the creation of two large rock holds and the installation of the inclined fallpipe. This enables the Windpiper to install rock with great precision on and around offshore structures,” Boskalis said.

Windpiper is 227 metres long and 40 metres wide, featuring a total installed power exceeding 31,000 kW. It will feature over a hundred single-occupancy cabins.