UK: MPI Offshore’s New Generation of Installation Vessels Receive Renewables Award

Earlier in the year MPI Offshore Limited was presented with the Inaugural Offshore Renewables Award at the Annual Offshore Support Journal Awards event held in London. The company was given the award for its new generation of wind turbine installation vessels.

MPI Offshore’s new generation of offshore wind turbine installation vessels are expanding the envelope of the renewables industry, taking it into deeper water and harsher environments. With a new generation of offshore windfarms under construction in more remote locations and harsher environments, MPI Offshore has started operating two new advanced wind turbine installation vessels.

These specialised vessels – MPI Adventure and MPI Discovery – were designed by GustoMSC and built at the Cosco Qidong and Cosco Nantong shipyards in China. They can operate in deeper waters and harsher sea and weather conditions than the previous generation of windfarm construction vessels, increasing the operational envelope of the offshore renewables industry.

Peter Robinson, Managing Director said: “We are delighted to be recognised with this award. It is testament to the exceptional performance and capability of our vessels and further strengthens our position as the world leader. Myself and the team at MPI Offshore are immensely proud.”

The first of these vessels, MPI Adventure, was delivered to MPI in March 2011 and is in service on the world’s largest offshore windfarm project to date, London Array in the Thames Estuary. MPI Discovery was delivered from the Qidong shipyard in October 2011 and is also engaged in the construction of London Array before working for E.ON under a six-year charter commencing early 2013.

The vessels are designed to transport, lift and install wind turbines and their foundations in deeper waters than ever before. MPI Offshore claims that they are “the world’s most advanced and most efficient wind turbine installation vessels,” in terms of jacking speed, deck space, lifting capacity and positioning capabilities (DP2).

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Source: vroon, May 31, 2012; Images: mpi-offshore,cosco