A wind turbine installation vessel in Qidong, Nantong, East China’s Jiangsu province. [Photo/qidongnews.com]

A wind turbine installation vessel with a load capacity of 1,300 tons was completed in Qidong, a county-level city in Nantong, East China’s Jiangsu province, on July 19.

The self-elevating and self-navigating vessel, designed by China State Shipbuilding Corporation and built by China Ocean Shipping Group, is the first vessel of its kind in China.

The vessel is equipped with the newest navigational technology in the world, making it the most advanced wind turbine installation vessel in China. 

The vessel has a length of 105 meters and a width of 42 meters and its deck space is the size of a standard football field, which allows it to transport and install three 6MW or two 8MW turbines. It is capable of carrying 1,300 tons of equipment, equivalent to the weight of a corvette. 

The vessel has a molded depth of 8.5 meters, 85-meter self-elevating legs, an operating depth of 50 meters, a cruising range of 5,556 kilometers, and can withstand a typhoon, enabling it to operate under any conditions. 

The vessel is specially designed to transport, lift, and place things on water. It can do the work of a floating crane and an offshore work platform and can install offshore wind turbines one-by-one.

Due to its flexibility, efficiency, and safety, it has been named the “Hercules on the Sea”.

A digital rendering of the wind turbine installation vessel in Qidong, Nantong, East China’s Jiangsu province. [Photo/qidongnews.com]