Maersk to provide installation vessel for US offshore wind farm
Illustration of the WIV at work
(Source: MSS)
Maersk Supply Service (MSS) has won a contract from Empire Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Equinor and bp through a 50:50 partnership in the United States, to provide a new type of wind installation vessel (WIV) for development of the Empire 1 and Empire 2 wind farms.
The WIV, to be built by SembCorp Marine in Singapore to ABS class, will have its jacking units, load transfer system, and crane, provided by New York-listed multinational NOV (formerly National Oilwell Varco). It is likely to arrive on site in 2025.
To ensure Jones Act compliance, MSS will work with Kirby Offshore Wind, a Kirby Corporation subsidiary, that will provide feeder barges and other support vessels for construction of the wind farms.
The WIV will not transport wind farm components from shore. Equipped with a patented NOV load transfer system, it will remain at the offshore site and receive wind farm equipment shipped by tug-barge combinations built, owned and operated in the United States by Kirby Offshore Wind.
Located about 24 to 48 km southeast of Long Island across some 324 km2 of sea, the two-phase Empire Wind project will have total installed capacity of more than 2 GW, sufficient power for more than one million homes.
