Seaway 7 cut the steel for its next generation wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) at the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) facility in Jiangsu, China. The ceremony marks the first major milestone in bringing its GustoMSC NG-14000XL-G jack-up vessel to the market.

This week, Seaway 7 also revealed the new build vessel’s name, Seaway Ventus, meaning ‘wind’ in Latin. The vessel, previously known by project name VIND1, will be delivered in mid 2023.

Seaway Ventus will be amongst the world’s largest jack-up installation vessels, designed specifically to transport and install the next generation offshore wind turbines and XL monopile foundations.

The vessels inaugural project will be the transport and installation of wind turbine generators for Ørsted’s Borkum Riffgrund 3 and Gode Wind 03 offshore wind farms in Germany. First announced in October, the contract was signed earlier this month November and is subject to Ørsted’s final investment decision.

The vessel will be capable of installing wind turbine components in water depths of 65 metres, to a height of up to 182 metres above the sea and will feature a telescopic leg-encircling crane with a maximum lifting capacity of 2,500 tons in retracted mode and 1,600 tons in extended mode.

The vessel will also be prepared for hydrogen fuel cells which will cut emissions even further when such technology becomes available.