Dropfall incident during foundation installation at Changhua offshore wind project
June 2020Published 18 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Changhua offshore wind project, 8km off Taiwan coast
- Operator
- Heerema Marine Contractors
- What
- Dropfall incident on heavy lift vessel Aegir
- Injuries
- None reported
- Cause
- Under investigation
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Heerema Marine Contractors
What happened
On 15 June 2020 at approximately 16:42 local time, the heavy lift vessel Aegir, operated by Heerema Marine Contractors, experienced a dropfall incident while installing jacket foundations at the 109.2 MW Changhua offshore wind project, located around 8km off the coast of Taiwan. The piling frame and a pin pile suffered minimal damage as a result. No injuries were reported and no environmental impact was identified. Work had only just begun on the foundation installation phase when the incident occurred.
Heerema Marine Contractors stated that the exact cause was not yet known and would be subject to a formal investigation. As a precaution, foundation installation activities were temporarily paused pending the outcome of that investigation.
Contributing factors
The exact cause of the dropfall was not known at the time of reporting and was to be determined through an investigation; no specific contributing factors were disclosed.
Lessons learned
- A dropfall on a heavy lift vessel during jacket foundation installation caused minimal damage to the piling frame and pin pile, so operators should review load monitoring systems before resuming piling work.
- Foundation installation activities were paused after the dropfall on the Aegir until investigation completes, so insurers should check that pause protocols cover early phase work.
More lessons on structural integrity and turbines, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Exact cause of the dropfall
- Downtime from the pause
- Cost of minimal damage
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Other entries that name Changhua
Published 2026-09-18. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
