Construction of Orion began in March 2018 and in April Liebherr immediately started work on the giant new crane, which will be assembled on an 800t pedestal on board. The pedestal will also include a rigging store, deck workplace and several offices. With a lifting capacity of 5,000t at more than 30m outreach, the crane could lift nine fully loaded A380 airplanes in one go. Loads can be lifted to an unrivalled height of 180m.

With its new DP3 offshore installation vessel, which will be one of the largest vessels in the world working in the sector, Deme will bring a game-changing installation concept to the offshore energy market. Orion will feature an unrivalled combination of exceptionally high transport and load capacity, impressive lifting heights and green technology.

The vessel will be deployed for the construction of the largest offshore wind farms, to service the oil and gas industry and for the decommissioning of offshore installations. Orion can take the heaviest monopiles, jackets, wind turbine components and structures in a single shipment, and can transport and install the next generation of multi-megawatt wind turbines.

The new vessel will enable the industry to take a significant step forward in further reducing the costs of installing offshore wind foundations for example, as she combines strength with high levels of precision, being able to install the largest monopiles at sea while in DP3 mode.

Environmental considerations are also an important element of the vessel design. Orion, which is due to join the Deme fleet in 2020, has dual-fuel engines and can run on liquefied natural gas. It will have a Green Passport and Clean Design notation. Another environmental innovation is a waste heat recovery system that converts heat from the exhaust gases and cooling water to electrical energy.