Boskalis expands range of 2023-commissioned vessel with new fallpipe (Photos)

Dutch offshore services provider Boskalis has outfitted its new subsea rock installation vessel with a new inclined fallpipe with the aim of expanding its range.

Following its first rock installation project in Australia earlier this year, the Seapiper subsea rock installation vessel was outfitted with a brand new inclined fallpipe in Singapore.

Designed by the engineers of Boskalis’ Central Fleet Support (CFS) department, this fallpipe enables the vessel to install rock at an angle of up to 225 degrees.

As a result, Seapiper can install rock that serves as scour protection around foundations for offshore wind turbines more efficiently and precisely – what it is currently doing at the Yunlin offshore wind farm in Taiwan, the Dutch company said.

To remind, Boskalis commissioned the new vessel in May 2023. The company’s CFS department, Seabed Intervention business unit and other business units worked together in Singapore to convert a semi-submersible transport vessel into a fallpipe vessel for a period of nine months.

Boskalis also recently commissioned its new cable-laying vessel (CLV) BOKA Ocean following a major conversion program. After completing sea trials in the North Sea, the vessel, formerly named Apache II, started its maiden project in the German part of the North Sea, installing its first subsea cable at an offshore wind farm.