DEME’s newest, self-propelled DP2 jack-up vessel ‘Apollo’ was officially named in the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium on February 21. The ceremony was performed by Olympic, World and European Champion heptathlon Nafi Thiam.
One of the exceptional features of the ‘Apollo’ are its extremely long lattice legs of 106.8 m, which allow the vessel to jack-up in water depths up to 65 m. The vessel is equipped with an 800-tonne, leg-encircling crane and has an unobstructed, spacious 2000 m² deck with a load carrying capacity of 15 t/m².
“We are truly honoured to have heptathlon champion Nafi Thiam as the godmother of our newest vessel,” says Hugo Bouvy, Managing Director of DEME Offshore. “Being a champion in the seven disciplines of the heptathlon are a real test of strength, endurance and versatility. These are features we also recognise in the vessel and crew of ‘Apollo’. This versatile vessel will serve the offshore wind industry, but will also provide services to the oil and gas industry, with a particular focus on the installation and decommissioning of platform facilities.”
Hundreds of people followed the event on DEME’s Facebook and Instagram livestream. Additionally, a selected group of students has the opportunity to visit the vessel and meet the crew on board during a job experience day.
DEME has a full orderbook for ‘Apollo’ with a variety of projects in both the renewables and oil and gas market. The vessel will now be mobilised for pre-piling works at the Moray East offshore wind farm in the UK.