Vessels are a top priority for offshore wind project developers and owners. Over the past few years, vessel builders, operators and certifiers have all made great strides to respond to the challenges of this industry. There are now more vessels than ever available for offshore wind work. In fact, there may even be more vessels than the industry will need over the next couple of years. An abundance of options allows developers to pick and choose which vessels to hire. But getting the right boats at the right time and at a good price remains a challenge.
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Tide turning on vessel supply and demand
The design, construction and use of vessels in the offshore wind industry is changing fast to keep pace with the progress of a sector that is under pressure to grow quickly while constraining costs. But is the drive to produce more vessels outpacing the market's needs?
Floating hotels advance offshore construction
Accommodation vessels are often seen as the future of offshore wind - but that future is already here. We discover such ships have been in use since 2008, providing a temporary home to hundreds of technicians and contributing to a large proportion of offshore installed capacity
Vessels fit for purpose
Feedback from the field and exacting new classification standards are helping offshore transfer companies produce vessels that are responding to growing industry demand
Sea-induced motions can hamper marine activities such as crane operations during offshore wind farm construction. We examine a novel wave-compensation technology for vessels
Safe walk-to-work solution
Access to offshore wind farms during construction and for later maintenance is a well-known challenge. But gangways can eliminate the risk of using access ladders
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