US companies 2nd Wind Marine and MiNo Marine have worked together on the design of a new installation and transportation vessel for the US offshore wind sector, construction of which is slated to kick off early next year.
The SuperFeeder design is for a 124.5 metre long and 40-metre wide vessel with a five-metre hull depth, compliant with the Jones Act.
2nd Wind Marine said the current plans are for two vessels to be built simultaneously capable of transporting one complete set of next-generation wind turbine components from US ports to offshore wind farm sites.
The fully DP2 vessels will each be propelled by three 2500kW Z-Drives and two 1200kW tunnel bow-thrusters with the intent to maintain 10 knots while laden.
The house is offset asymmetrically to the port side to allow more bow deck space to accommodate larger vertically stacked blade racks and will also be able to accommodate a total of 60 persons (20 crew and 40 offshore workers).
The cargo deck rated to transport and jack up with 4000 tonnes has a double deck so changes in grillage can be easily facilitated.
Vessels will be outfitted with a Liebherr designed crane installed around a jacking leg with an offset-pedestal allowing access to more than 95% of the vessel’s cargo deck space.
The crane is capable of lifting each component of next generation wind turbines from quayside to the vessel’s cargo deck.