It takes away your breath when you see the giant vessels like Svanen constructing offshore wind farms. You see how easily and fast it puts the monopiles that will produce megawatts of clean energy. The serenity of the sea and the robustness of the vessel do not evoke any thoughts of disastrous accidents.
This is how it looks to an average citizen, but professionals at van Oord think about the risks and want to proactively prevent them. The vessel is surrounded by deep level anchors to keep it in place. But what will happen if the anchors break free from their moorings? Then an 8,000-tonne lift installation vessel will start drifting. One may ask: “And what if so?” Apart from creating a huge wave and just drifting on the water surface, it risks damaging the many different cables on the ocean floor. For example, if the Transatlantic Internet cable gets damaged it will lead to a real catastrophe.