Maersk Offshore Wind delivers first WTIV with docking system

Despite Donald Trump’s attempts to halt the project, a court has overturned the stop-work order along with another four projects in the US – Sunrise Wind, 924MW also offshore New York; Vineyard Wind 1, an 800MW project in Massachusetts; Revolution Wind, 700MW, in Rhode Island & Connecticut; and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, a 2.6GW project.

Maersk Viridis, 143m long excluding the heli deck and 11 metres wide on the main hull, can sleep more than 100 people. She is the first Wind Turbine Installation Vessel to have a docking bay to allow feeder vessels to bring in equipment, a feature that is not needed in Europe, where there is no Jones Act.

It means Maersk Viridis will be able to stay on site for months at a time if required, ‘not acting like a bus’ going back and forth to port, according to Caroline Knox, senior Marketing & Communications partner at Maersk Offshore Wind.

“What we have created is an offshore docking system, purpose built and articulated so that the tug and barge act as one vessel,” she said at the WindEurope event in Madrid this week.

“It can work 24/7, with two tugs and two barges bringing the turbines to the site, with the foundations already in place.”

The tug pushes the feeder into the vessel’s dock using a cargo frame which then locks it in place and elevates it up to the main deck.

The wind farm will be installed with 15MW turbines, but Maersk Viridis is capable of installing the next generation of 20MW+ turbines, Knox said.

While Viridis, which means ‘green’ in Latin, was specifically designed for the US market so the Jones Act could be circumvented, Maersk Offshore Wind’s next vessel will be a conventional one, Knox said.

“We want to develop a fleet that can provide a portfolio of solutions,” she said. “The next one isn’t under construction yet, it’s still in the design phase so it’s at an early stage.”

Maersk Viridis is due to arrive in the US over the summer.

Maersk Offshore Wind, while under the AP Moller-Maersk Group umbrella, is a company in its own right, set up in 2023 as a dedicated unit to develop and operate WTIVs for the offshore wind sector.