World's Biggest Jack-Up Vessel

The World’s Biggest Jack-Up Vessel is Voltaire, named after the prominent Enlightenment philosopher.

The vessel is owned by Jan De Nul Group and was delivered in 2022. It has a lifting capacity of over 3200 tonnes and is 182 m long and 60 m wide.

Voltaire was designed to install the next-generation offshore wind turbines, including those at Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm once completed.

It installed all 277 GE Renewable Energy Haliade-X offshore wind turbines across the three phases, Dogger Bank A, B and C.

It is also the tallest jack-up installation in the world, taller than the Eiffel Tower, per Jan De Nul.

The biggest jack-up vessel has a Huisman Crane, 4 legs of 130 m and can lift up to 16,000 tonnes of cargo out of the water.

It is an ultra-low emission vessel with advanced exhaust filtering systems.

Voltaire can handle wind turbines more than 270 m high and blades up to 120 m long, making it suitable for the largest and most powerful turbines presently in production.

Its massive deck space allows it to transport multiple wind turbine components in a single trip.

Voltaire is also self-propelled and has a highly advanced dynamic positioning system.

It can accommodate 100 crew members in single cabins, positioned in 2 blocks on either side of the ship, enabling long cargo to be stowed along the centerline between them. Voltire also has a helicopter deck for crew transfers and logistics.

The biggest jack-up vessel has been secured under a long-term charter by RWE for more than 4 years, starting from 2027.

It will be deployed at RWE’s offshore wind projects like the Thor project in Denmark and Hollandse Kust West VII off the Dutch coast.

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Zahra is an alumna of Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is an avid writer, possessing immaculate research and editing skills. Author of several academic papers, she has also worked as a freelance writer, producing many technical, creative and marketing pieces. A true aesthete at heart, she loves books a little more than anything else.

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