Cable-laying vessel ‘Calypso’ has officially been handed over to Van Oord from the Vard Brattvaag yard.
The next-generation, custom-built vessel will be a key strategic addition to Van Oord’s offshore wind fleet, being equipped with the latest sustainable technologies.
The final construction phase took place at the Vard Brattvaag shipyard in Norway, where the cable-related equipment was installed. The hull was built at Vard Tulcea in Romania. This next generation hybrid cable-laying vessel has been developed to run on biofuel, and has future fuel ready engines with built-in flexibility to be powered with e-fuels.
The vessel has a large battery installation, a shore supply connection and energy management system. This sustainable set-up is expected to result in higher energy efficiency reducing CO2, NOx and SOx emissions.
The vessel is fitted with the usual cable carousel on deck and a second, below-deck cable carousel, with a total cable-carrying capacity of 8,000t. Suitable for laying two cables simultaneously, Calypso will mainly be deployed to install inter-array grid and export cables for offshore wind projects, including high-voltage DC cables. Van Oord’s innovative cable trenchers can be operated from the vessel.
Vard Group subsidiary Vard Electro has delivered a complete SeaQ package, encompassing intuitive bridge, power, communication and automation solutions. Vard Accommodation has delivered HVAC-R, piping and interior concepts.
The Vard 9 02 design was developed by Vard Design in Ålesund, Norway. The vessel measures 131m in length and 28m across the beam.
