''MPI Resolution'' (formerly TIV ''Mayflower Resolution'') is a

wind turbine installation vessel A wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) is a vessel specifically designed for the installation of offshore wind turbines. There were 16 such vessels in 2020. Most are self-elevating jackup rigs. To enable quick relocation in the wind farm it is ...

deployed to install

turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

offshore wind farm Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of ca ...

s. It was the first self-elevating Turbine Installation Vessel in the world. She can raise herself on her six legs between and above the sea.

Description

''MPI Resolution'' is a 14,857 GT vessel which has six legs that she can use to raise itself out of the sea when installing offshore wind turbines. ''Resolution'' is designed for use in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, although she can be deployed elsewhere if required. She has the capacity for ten wind turbines at a time. The whole ship can be jacked up out of the sea on her six legs, to provide a stable platform when installing wind turbines. The jacking system uses hydraulics. She can raise herself between and above the sea. ''MPI Resolution'' is powered by four Mitsubishi S16R-MPTK2 diesel generators of each, and two Wartsila 6L20 diesel generators of 1110kW each, powering four Rolls-Royce Aquamaster US 205/3850

azimuth thruster An azimuth thruster is a configuration of marine propellers placed in pods that can be rotated to any horizontal angle (azimuth), making a rudder redundant. These give ships better maneuverability than a fixed propeller and rudder system. Type ...

s of and three Rolls-Royce Kamewa TT1650 CP

bow thruster Manoeuvering thrusters (bow thrusters and stern thrusters) are transversal propulsion devices built into or mounted to either the Bow (watercraft), bow or stern (front or back, respectively) of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow th ...

s of . On arrival at the site of the wind turbine, ''MPI Resolution'' lowers her six legs to stand on the seabed, and then jacks herself up above the surface of the sea. This provides a stable platform to hammer down a mono-pile into the sea bed and install the wind turbine. When the turbine has been installed, ''Resolution'' lowers herself and sails to the next position to repeat the process.

History

''Mayflower Resolution'' was ordered in 2002 by Mayflower Energy Ltd. She was built by Shanhaiguan shipyard,

Qinhuangdao Qinhuangdao (; zh, s=秦皇岛, link=no) is a port city on the coast of China in northern Hebei. It is administratively a prefecture-level city, about east of Beijing, on the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its population d ...

, China as yard number TIV 1. She was designed by

Dane Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (tribe), an ancient North Germanic tribe Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a lis ...

Knud E Hansen and construction was supervised by Graig Shipping. ''Mayflower Resolution'' was built for Mayflower Energy Ltd, part of Mayflower Corporation. Delivery was scheduled for February 2003, but was delayed and the £20,000,000 budget was exceeded by some £10,000,000. The addition of a remotely operated vehicle to lay submarine cables pushed to final bill for her construction to £53,000,000. ''Mayflower Resolution'' was completed in November 2003, and delivered in February 2004. The journey from Qinhuangdao to Falmouth,

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

took 66 days. She underwent trials in Falmouth Bay, where she was tested for the first time. ''Mayflower Resolution'' was then put to work installing wind turbines at the North Hoyle windfarm for National Wind Power. The contract ended on 23 March and ''Mayflower Resolution'' sailed to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, arriving on 30 March. She was due to depart for

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

on 8 April to work on installing turbines for the Scroby Sands wind farm. On 31 March, Mayflower Corporation went into administration with debts of £17,700,000. Deloitte Touche were appointed as administrators. ''Mayflower Resolution'' was sold by the administrators for £12,000,000 to a group of Mayflower Corporation's managers who managed to get backing from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese bank Mizuho International The new owners became MPI Offshore, based in

Stokesley Stokesley is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven. An Wards and ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

. In 2006, ''MPI Resolution'' was used in the construction of the

Barrow Offshore Wind The Barrow Offshore Wind Farm is a 30 turbine 90MW capacity offshore wind farm in the East Irish Sea approximately southwest of Walney Island, near Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Construction of the wind farm took place between 2005 and ...

project for

Centrica Centrica plc is a British  multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest suppliers ...

and

DONG Energy Dong or DONG may refer to: Places * Dong Lake, or East Lake, a lake in China * Dong, Arunachal Pradesh, a village in India * Dong (administrative division) (동 or 洞), a neighborhood division in Korea Person names Surnames * Dǒng (surna ...

. In 2008, ''Resolution'' was used in the construction of the

Lynn and Inner Dowsing Wind Farm The Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms are a pair of round 1 wind farms located in the North Sea, in the shallow waters at the entrance to The Wash off the coast of Lincolnshire, England. The wind farms were developed as a single unit after plan ...

for

. It was announced in July 2008 that two more ships were to be built, based on ''MPI Resolution'' but slightly larger. They will be built by

Cosco China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was a former shipping corporation from 1961 to 2016, owned by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council of China. The company merged with China Shipping Group, China Shipping Grou ...

, at their

Nantong Nantong is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. Nantong is a vital river port bordering Yancheng to the north; Taizhou to the west; Suzhou, Wux ...

shipyard. The two new ships will be named ''MPI Adventure'' and ''MPI Discovery''. In February 2008, ''Resolution'' was sent to

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

, Denmark to work on the installation of a wind farm. In January 2009, ''Resolution'' was used in the construction of the

Robin Rigg Wind Farm Robin Rigg Wind Farm is Scotland's first offshore wind farm. It was constructed by E.ON at Robin Rigg, a sandbank in the Solway Firth midway between the Galloway and Cumbrian coasts. It first generated power for test purposes on 9 September 200 ...

. In 2010, ''Resolution'' was employed in the construction of the 100-turbine

Thanet wind farm The Thanet Wind Farm (also sometimes called Thanet Offshore Wind Farm) is an offshore wind farm off the coast of Thanet district in Kent, England. On commissioning it was the world's largest offshore wind farm. It has a nameplate capacity (ma ...

, off the coast of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, sometimes carrying and installing 9 complete turbines.100 turbines in 100 days
''

Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Un ...

''. Retrieved: 4 September 2010. ''Resolution'' also featured in the documentary

Mighty Ships ''Mighty Ships'' is a documentary television program produced by Exploration Production Inc. in Canada and aired on Discovery Channel Canada and also broadcast around the world. Each episode of the series follows a particular sea-going vessel an ...

, season 2.

Identification

''MPI Resolution'' has the

IMO Number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term with two distinct applications: * the IMO ship identification number is a unique ship identifier; or, * the IMO company and registered owner identification number is u ...

9260134 and callsign PCJM.

References

External links

MPI Offshore official website

Current position of ''MPI Resolution''
* 2min , from

{{DEFAULTSORT:MPI Resolution Ships built in China Merchant ships of the Isle of Man Merchant ships of Cyprus Wind turbine installation vessels 2003 ships

Description

History

Identification

See also

References

External links