Apex carry out a project for an offshore wind turbine installation vessel.

The MPI Discovery is a state of the art wind turbine installation vessel, which was purpose built to carry out the construction and installation of off-shore wind farms. This vessel was one of the first of its kind when it was launched in 2011 and featured in an episode of Might Ships on the Discovery Channel.

Pile Gripper Arms, which stabilise 6m diameter 650t steel piles as they are driven into the seabed

Apex manufactured the offshore hydraulic cylinders for the Pile Gripper Arms, which stabilise 6m diameter 650t steel piles as they are driven into the seabed. Installed on the vessel’s stern below deck level, they provide resistance to wave, tide and current forces in water depths of up to 40m. Their position and the additional control this provides significantly reduces installation times providing a valuable enhancement to the Discovery’s capability.

The hydraulically driven arms, weighing circa 90t each, have three main cylinders: one to deploy the arms from their stowage position and two to provide a horizontal gripping motion able to withstand up to 150t of horizontal load in any direction. These cylinders are actuated by touchscreen and single joystick controls that allow an operator to engage the arms, close the jaws and then maintain the pile in the vertical plane as it is hammered down.

More images from this project

The following products were utilised as part of this project. For more detailed information on these products, click on an image below…

The following services were utilised as part of this project. For more detailed information on these services, click on an image below…