DEME’s ‘Game-Changing’ Offshore Installation Vessel Suffers 11th-Hour Crane Collapse – Incident Video

A newbuild offshore installation vessel due for delivery later this month suffered a major accident over the weekend when its crane collapsed during testing. 

Belgian marine services company DEME reports that the under construction offshore installation vessel Orion 1 was undergoing load testing at Liebherr shipyard in Rostock, Germany when the crane collapsed on Saturday, May 2. 

A few people suffered minor injuries, the company said.

Footage of the incident leaked online:

The Orion 1 is under construction and currently owned by COSCO (QIDONG) Offshore.  It was due for delivery to DEME later this month. 

The 216.5-meter Orion 1 has been described as a “game changing” DP3 offshore installation vessel with a massive 5,000-tonne lifting crane featuring 30 meters of outreach and a lifting height of 180 meters.

The vessel arrived at the Liebherr construction yard last November for installation of the crane – the final phase in the construction process. 

“The crane has suffered significant damage, while damage to the crane and the vessel will be investigated in the upcoming days and weeks,” DEME said in a statement. 

The Orion 1 was planned to install 103 jackets at the Moray East offshore wind farm in Scotland immediately upon delivery.

Commissioned by the Scottish Government in 2014, the 950MW capacity Moray East project is being developed by EDP Renewables and ENGIE. Since May 2019, DEME’s jack-up vessel Apollo has been working to install piles as part of an initial two-year campaign to construct the foundation systems for the MHI Vestas V164-9.5MW turbines and the three offshore substations. The Orion was then scheduled the work of installing the 103 ‘jackets’ for the foundation.

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