Boskalis christens Windpiper, world’s largest subsea rock installer
A converted vessel doubles the group’s rock installation capacity for offshore work
Dutch marine services group Boskalis has christened Windpiper, a vessel it describes as the world's largest subsea rock installation ship. The naming, performed by supervisory board member Ms Jones-Bos, followed an 18-month conversion that transformed the vessel for high-capacity rock placement.
Measuring 227 by 40 metres, Windpiper can carry 45,500 tonnes of rock across two holds. Boskalis says bringing the ship into service doubles its rock installation capacity, adding scale as demand grows for scour protection around offshore wind foundations and for the burial and protection of subsea cables and pipelines.
The vessel is designed for projects where the rock loading facilities sit far from the work site, using its large cargo capacity to cut the number of trips needed on long-transit jobs. That profile fits the expanding offshore wind market, where developers increasingly need reliable, high-volume rock installation.
For Boskalis, Windpiper strengthens a fleet already active across dredging, offshore energy and marine infrastructure, and positions the group to take on larger foundation and cable protection contracts as the sector scales up.
