More than 18 months after the first cable was installed at the Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm, the cable-laying vessel BOKA Ocean has completed the final inter-array cable for Ørsted’s 913 MW project in the German North Sea. During this last campaign, the vessel also installed additional fiber optic cables and marine detection systems.
Work at Borkum Riffgrund 3 began when the then newly built BOKA Ocean installed the first cable in the German sector of the North Sea, marking the start of a multi-phase installation programme. Since then, the vessel has carried out four separate installation campaigns over a period of more than 18 months to bring the inter-array cable package to completion.
Throughout these works, BOKA Ocean operated in close coordination with the multipurpose offshore vessel Ndeavor. While BOKA Ocean was responsible for laying the cables, Ndeavor followed to bury them, forming a spread that handled both installation and protection of the cable system.
Borkum Riffgrund 3, which has recently delivered first power, is a familiar location for Boskalis. Earlier this year, the company installed the DolWin epsilon offshore converter station in the same area, using several oceangoing tugs and the subsea rock installation vessel Rockpiper. With the cable works completed and the wind farm progressing towards full operation, the development phase of the project is drawing to a close.
The company has thanked the crews of all vessels involved for their commitment and expressed appreciation to client Ørsted for the cooperation and trust shown during the execution of the project.
