OHT celebrates keel laying for its heavy lift crane vessel Alfa Lift at CMHI shipyard
OHT’s new heavy installation crane vessel Alfa Lift, currently under construction at the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) facility in Jiangsu, has reached its second significant build milestone with the laying of the Keel, weeks ahead of schedule, OHT said in its press release.
For the first time the fabricated blocks have come together for assembly in the dry dock and the vessel will start to take shape. This is the next significant step in bringing Alfa Lift to the market, following the Steel Cutting Ceremony that took place on March 1st of this year.
This milestone was marked with a Keel Laying Ceremony on the 25th September, attended by OHT Owner and Chairman Arne Blystad, together with CEO Torgeir E. Ramstad, Head of Project Execution Bertil Rognes and Alfa Lift Project Manager Bjarne Birkeland. Also present were CMHI General Manager Mr. Wallace Yao, and other senior CMHI Management in addition to representatives from DNV-GL and other suppliers.
OHT’s CEO Torgeir Ramstad commended the hardworking people at CMHI and key suppliers, having made great progress since the first milestone in March.
“We have worked together with the shipyard in an open and cooperative way to ensure the utmost quality of construction. Because OHT places a high degree of importance on quality.” Said Mr. Ramstad. “According to our customers our vessel will be ground-breaking and will serve the growing offshore wind market for decades to come. The word “growing” is perhaps not precise enough to describe what is happening in the offshore wind market.”
Bjarne Birkeland, Alfa Lift Project Manager added:
“The spirit at the Keel Laying Ceremony reflected the energy and enthusiasm for this ground-breaking project and I am proud to be a part of it. We highly appreciate the good cooperation between CMHI and our staff. They are all working hard to achieve high quality and timely delivery.”
The Alfa Lift design vessel will be the largest and most innovative, custom-built offshore wind foundation installation vessel in the world. The vessel is due to be delivered early 2021. The next major milestone will be the launching ceremony which is planned for March 2020.
To follow the progress of the Alfa Lift project and keep up to date on other OHT activities be sure to follow Offshore Heavy Transport AS on LinkedIn.
About OHT
OHT (Offshore Heavy Transport) is a heavy transport and installation contractor and experienced vessel owner/operator with integrated in-house operations, engineering, technical and commercial management. OHT specializes in transporting oversized heavy cargoes for various markets including Oil & Gas, Offshore Wind and large infrastructure projects. The company has executed hundreds of successful transports on behalf of its customers and has transported jack-up rigs for the majority of rig-owners worldwide. The company currently owns and operates five open deck semi-submersible heavy transportation carriers: MV Hawk, Osprey, Albatross, Falcon and Eagle.
In 2021, OHT will launch their new build vessel of Alfa Lift design; their first vessel built specifically for the offshore wind market.
A heavy lifting crane installation vessel with semi-submersible heavy transportation capabilities, the Alfa Lift design vessel will be the world’s largest, custom-built vessel for offshore wind foundation installation and will optimize efficiency for the transport and installation of next generation foundations.