'Bravenes' named and ready for the offshore wind and cable markets

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In May 2018, Dutch family owned contractor Van Oord combined their 150-year anniversary celebrations with the naming of the subsea rock Installation vessel ‘Bravenes’. Working in close cooperation with Van Oord, this is a fully integrated design where Ulstein has been responsible for the development and integration of the mission equipment and vessel design.

The vessel is the third to join Van Oord’s SRI fleet. Van Oord invests in innovative techniques and ultra-modern equipment such as the ‘Bravenes’ to maintain its leading position in this niche market. The ‘Bravenes’ is an innovative vessel in its class, not only because of its unique ability to install rock in three different modes, but also due to the open top rock holds integrated into the vessel hull. This resulted in the vessel being more compact than similar installation vessels with comparable cargo capacities.

The ‘Bravenes’ can install rock through a fallpipe inserted through the moonpool, through a fallpipe over the side, and through a tremie pipe over the side. Thanks to the latter method, it can also perform subsea rock installation at close proximity to offshore platforms. Combined with its ability to load and install large rocks, this makes the ‘Bravenes’ ideal for the offshore wind and cable market.

‘The ‘Bravenes’ is equipped with the latest innovations to improve vessel safety and efficiency, for example a fully automatic fallpipe loading and transport system.

“The ‘Bravenes’ will allow Van Oord to maintain its leading position in this market,” says Maurits den Broeder, Van Oord’s Managing Director Offshore.

Projects
After the christening celebrations, the ‘Bravenes’ will be setting course for Norway to work on various North Sea projects. From mid-July, it will be carrying out stabilisation operations for Nord Stream 2, the gas pipeline that will stretch from Russia to Germany.

150 years of Marine ingenuity
The christening ceremony marked the start of a two-day event celebrating Van Oord’s 150th anniversary. The company has planned several events, including the ‘Bravenes’’ christening, but will also be looking ahead throughout the jubilee year, for example in the Van Oord Innovation Challenge. In this Challenge, Van Oord is seeking start-ups active in marine engineering and offshore energy to join it in tackling the challenges of climate change.

About Van Oord
Van Oord is a Dutch family-owned company with 150 years of experience as an international marine contractor. The focus is on dredging, oil & gas infrastructure and offshore wind.