Our vessels - designed for the future of offshore wind

Our windfarm installation vessels (WIV) are designed to operate in even the most challenging conditions, thanks to advanced specifications, high-quality equipment and experienced crews. We are sizing up for future demands, and in 2024 through 2026, our new purpose-built X-class and F-class vessels will be ready. By that time, we will operate the largest and most capable fleet of jack-up installation vessels in terms of loading capacity and ability to transport, service and install offshore foundations and wind turbines.

Our O-class vessels: Wind Osprey and Wind Orca

Our two highly adaptable and well-maintained wind turbine installation vessels - the O-class vessels - provide a safe, efficient, and reliable solution for the installation, maintenance, and decommissioning of windfarm projects. Their advanced specifications set the new industry benchmark for vessel transit speed, lifting capability, DP station keeping and jacking speed, offering a significantly improved operating weather window. They are fitted with high-quality equipment, supported by advanced preventative maintenance systems, and incorporate a significant level of operating redundancy. Safety is enhanced through a 6-leg design that allows them to operate even on sites with the most challenging seabed conditions.

With a large cargo area and high-capacity deck loading, our vessels offer considerable flexibility in the transport and installation of turbines and foundations of all types and sizes that are currently on the market. They are operated with the maximum level of precision by experienced crews and offer highly functional facilities for the crews onboard. 

Wind Osprey and Wind Orca are both equipped with cranes with a lifting capacity of 1,200 metric tons and a 132 meter hook height above deck. The boom has a simplified design focused on providing efficient wind turbine installations, with optimisations driven by experience. These specifications make them capable of handling the new generation of wind turbine generators (WTGs) including the SG 11.0-193 DD, V164-10.0 MW, V174-9.5 MW and GE Haliade-X 12MW.

New cranes - lifting the new generation of turbines

The wind turbines are sizing up, and so are the demands for even larger cranes with higher specifications. By the beginning of 2024, both our O-class vessels will be ready to operate with new improved cranes capable of handling the next generation of turbines.

The new cranes will have a lifting capacity of 1,600 metric tons at a radius of 40 meters. The main hook will be able to reach 160 meters above the main deck and is therefore a substantial upgrade from the current vessel cranes.

X-class vessels - building our green future

By the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025, our two wind turbine installation vessels, the so-called X-class, will be ready. The two X-class vessels are designed to operate at some of the most difficult sites around the globe and with the most advanced equipment in the industry. The vessels will offer increased transit capacity, lowering the energy intensity of installation, reducing installation time and thereby lowering total cost of installing offshore wind farms.

With a deck space of 5,600m2, a payload of over 17,600 tons and main crane capacity of above 2,000 tons at 53 meters, the two new cyber-secure vessels are very attractive to the industry. The vessels will be able to transport and install seven complete 15MW turbine sets per load or five sets of 20+ MW turbines, cutting down the number of trips needed for each project, thus accelerating installation speed and minimizing the carbon footprint. The vessels will have a 5,600 m2 deck space and can accommodate 130 people.

Our new vessels have been designed to reduce the impact on the environment. Not just in the final product, but also implemented in the process of building it. You can read more about our environmental responsibility here. 

The first X-class vessel will be ready in 2024 and has already been contracted for one of the largest offshore windfarms in the world: The 1.4 GW “Sofia” offshore wind power park in the North Sea, owned by RWE. For this project Cadeler will assist Siemens Gamesa with the transport and installation of 100 wind turbines of a size of 14 MW.

F-class - a unique foundation vessel 

The introduction of the new F-class foundation installation vessels by the second half of 2026 will mark a new milestone in Cadeler's history. The design of these new state-of-the-art jack-up vessels, somewhat similar to specifications of the two X-class vessels, will enable the vessels to handle the next generation of foundations. And with the addition of the two F-class vessels, the Cadeler fleet will onwards consist of six jack-up vessels and thus, the largest and most capable fleet of jack-up installation vessels in terms of loading capacity and ability to transport, service and install offshore foundations and wind turbines.

The F-class will cater for some of the largest foundation dimensions in the offshore wind industry
With a deck space of 5,600m2, a payload of more than 17,600 tons and a main crane capacity to be disclosed at a later date, the F-class vessels once in operation will be unmatched in the industry judging by today's standards. The vessels will be able to transport and install six sets of 2XL monopile foundations per load, cutting down the number of transits needed for each project while improving the operational efficiency substantially. In line with the X-class vessels, the F-class will cater for some of the largest dimensions expected to come in the offshore wind industry.