A champagne bottle hit a ship’s hull in Singapore. The shattering sent innovation shockwaves around the globe. For an instant, far from the Strait of Hormuz, the name Maersk Viridis took center stage. It heralds the future, not with a whisper, but a proud, defiant roar. This Wind Turbine Installation Vessel (WTIV) is Maersk’s first in its Offshore Wind division. The 1,900 metric ton crane is equipped with a hook rising 590 feet above the floor deck. Naturally, the heliport and 100-cabin accommodation complement the workings of Viridis.
For people in the maritime industries or even those casual ship spotters along the coast of international port cities like New York, Maersk ships display a distinctive powdery-blue paint with bold, white lettering. The Maersk blue containers are found on any highway, anywhere in the world. The Latin word ‘viridis’ derives from ‘sprout’ and ‘flourish’. It translates as the color green, like viridian. The decision to stencil a word that aspires to that of a greening flower empowers a symbol of eternal, natural strength and resilience. What could be more appropriate for our time? A hint of green on blue.
As bulk oil tankers burn in the Middle East, another senseless administrative battle over energy resources is being waged right here in New York waters. An administration angry over offshore wind power. As an oil-soaked mist rains down on the streets of Tehran, and Washington D.C. sloshes through its own hard-lined muck, certain pockets of the world wake up every morning to a cleaner, happier environmental embrace. Maybe you personally haven’t yet witnessed that clear sunrise, but it’s right over your shoulder, coming, fast and furious.
As Viridis prepares to cross the ocean on its way to the New York Bight for its first operation, we observe the breakthrough. This multi-billion dollar offshore wind power industry honors manufacturing contracts of technological wonders. America’s shipyards are busy building the tools needed to advance the offshore wind movement. Southern Louisiana is producing state-of-the-art vessels designed to sync perfectly with the behemoth vessel on its way from Singapore.
Offshore wind is quietly catapulting a viable economic driver. NYHC recently featured the newest ‘floating hotel‘ ship that arrived in New York Harbor weeks ago to house the workers on site in the waves for the Empire Wind installation project. Now, the same drydock in Lockport, Louisiana is sending state-of-the-art barges that will lock safely under the secure jaws of the Maersk Viridis. Empire Wind’s final stage of construction relies on a feeder-based system that was designed, approved and accepted by the U.S. federal government. Viridis will receive the blade and power housings ferried from the Brooklyn Marine Terminal assembly grounds by the Louisiana barges that belong to Kirby Offshore Wind from its facility in nearby Staten Island. Each barge delivery will be locked in place, ready to be lifted flawlessly up to the Viridis deck. This feeder design has been tested to withstand storm-force wave conditions.
Without fanfare, Viridis will lower its stabilizing legs around the first of 54 foundation pile sites making up the Empire Wind Farm. If everything goes according to plan, Maersk Viridis should boast a 30 percent reduction in monopile installation time. As climate change appears to be winning the environmental battle for now, perhaps the efforts supporting clean, highly renewable wind power innovation may ultimately help win the war.
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