Bravenes

Ship history

Working in close cooperation with Van Oord, this is the first fully integrated design where Ulstein has been responsible for the development and integration of both the mission equipment and vessel design. SRI vessels stabilise and protect subsea pipelines, cables and other structures at the sea bed.

Rocks can be installed through a fallpipe inserted through the moonpool, through a fallpipe over the side or through a tremie pipe over the side. The vessel can perform subsea rock installation close to offshore platforms.

The DP-3 vessel is a unique design featuring the distinct X-BOW® hull line and meets the requirements for Clean Design Notation, Green Passport and Ice Class 1A – PC7. The vessel and its equipment are designed for year-round operability in harsh weather and high-sea states.

Ulstein has also supplied the main Fall Pipe Deployment system and the majority of the ancillary systems of the rock installation tower. Ulstein puts a strong focus on simplicity, by mechanizing the systems as much as possible, enabling higher levels of safety and control and as such minimising human interaction during the deployment and recovery of the fall pipe.

Combined with its ability to load and install large rocks, this makes the Bravenes ideal for the offshore wind and cable market.

September 2015: First steel cut

December 2016: Launch
End 2017: Construction completed. Sailed to Xiamen for installation of the innovative Fall Pipe Deployment system. Final outfitting/commissioning at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam
May 2018: Outfitting and commissioning completed. Naming ceremony on 21 May.

End May 2018: The vessel will set course for Norway to work on various North Sea projects. From mid-July, she will carry out stabilisation operations for Nord Stream 2, the gas pipeline that will stretch from Russia to Germany.

March 2021: An advanced combustion conditioning system with hydrogen and methanol will be installed on the 'Bravenes'. The solution will reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions of marine diesel-powered engines. The solution enables Van Oord to achieve substantial carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), particulate matter (PM) and black carbon (BC) reduction on the existing ship.

Nov 2021: For the Seeagreen Offshore Wind Farm, Scotland's and the world's largest deepest fixed bottom offshore wind farm, Van Oord has been contracted by Seaway 7 to install scour protection around the 114 wind turbine foundations. The wind turbines for this 1.1 GW offshore wind farm will be installed on three-legged jacket foundations. After the installation of these jackets, scour protection is required to prevent the effects of erosion. This is achieved with high-precision rock installation around the jackets, deployed by the high dynamic flexible fall pipe vessel Bravenes. Once completed, the Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm will provide a significant contribution to Scotland's net-zero ambition. It will produce enough clean, renewable energy to power 1.6 million homes.

Film from launch

Introductory film: How does the vessel work? (CR: Van Oord)