The port of Eemshaven, on the mouth of the Eems River estuary. This area has a huge potential for development and the jack up barge WaveWalker 1 is making this development possible.

To be able to run the Gemini offshore wind park facility two Gemini export cables have to be run under two existing submarine cables.

Due to strong currents and very shallow water depths at this location a very special vessel would be required to carry out the horizontal drilling operations for the two ducts separated by 25 metres. The WaveWalker 1 is the ultimate ‘walk to work’ vessel and is fitted with 8 jack-up legs for this purpose. ‘Walking’ is made possible with a 2-phase jacking and skidding sequence. Dependant on weather and seabed conditions the vessel can reach a possible speed of 40 metres per hour.

For the current operation at Gemini the moon pool has been covered over and a unit has been installed for the horizontal drilling operation and the deck space is filled with all the associated equipment. The drilling operation is managed by one man and a remote control unit because everything has been made mechanical. This operation will be completed during spring 2015 with the exact timing dependent upon the weather conditions.

The WaveWalker 1 is a versatile and unique vessel for work in conditions where other vessels would have great difficulty. This is a simple statement that covers a wide range of activities, conditions and properties, one of which is ‘walking to work’.

WaveWalker 1 is currently preparing to depart Portland, UK and will soon be heading to Holland to commence the mobilisation for her next exciting project.

The innovative walking jack up barge has been chartered as part of the construction of the Gemini wind park which will be built 60 kilometres from the coast of the Dutch Schiermonnikoog Island, an area with excellent wind conditions. Construction will complete in 2016, after which the project will be fully operational in 2017. The 600 MW wind park consists of 150 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 4 MW. Once fully operational, the wind park will supply electricity to more than 785,000 households.

WaveWalker BV is proud to be a part of this undertaking, showing once again the versatility of the vessel and support of our esteemed clients.

The innovative walking jack-up platform WaveWalker 1 was presented with the Product and Equipment Innovation Award at the prestigious Ground Engineering (GE) Awards ceremony in London earlier this week (14th May.)

The GE Product and Equipment Innovation Award is for a product or item of equipment aimed at the ground engineering or geotechnical market which has delivered improved performance or made a technique or idea possible. The entries were required to provide evidence of how their product led to increased performance, durability, safety or productivity during a project or process. Research strategy that led to the development of the product and its sales success to date were also taken into account. Key criteria included: Innovative design, ability of product/equipment to fill a gap in the market; ability to deliver cost and performance benefits; and commercial potential for use on other projects/applications.

Together Fugro Seacore and Van Oord provided their design and engineering expertise to create the jack-up barge which is owned and operated by WaveWalker BV, a 50/50 joint venture between the two companies.

“We are delighted to have ticked all the boxes and to be presented with this prestigious award,” says Les Lugg, Joint Managing Director of WaveWalker BV.

This is the second award for the innovative walking jack-up barge; WaveWalker 1 was successful in November 2013 winning the British Engineering Excellence Award for Mechanical Product of the Year.

WaveWalker 1 is currently on location in the UK preparing for her next contract due to start in July 2014.