Delivered in February 2004, the Mayflower Resolution has been recognised as both the first offshore wind turbine installation vessel and the ship that set the industry standard for the vessels that followed in its footsteps - providing a quicker, more efficient and cost-effective solution than what was available to the industry at the time. In the early 2,000s, there were two problems for shipping when it came to installing farms. One was to ensure that commercial shipping can co-exist comfortably with a large number of new exclusion areas around the wind turbine installations. Secondly, and more positively, the industry had to react to the challenge of serving a new sector. Just as the development of offshore oil bred a whole new series of ship types, from semi-submersible through anchor handling tugs to pipe layers, so offshore wind energy started to create a huge demand for specialised ships. The wind turbines already installed were put in using barges and floating sheer legs. But that was slow, cumbersome, and there was insufficient marine construction capacity to meet demand.
Wind turbines weren't always the common sight that they are today. First sighted around the UK and Danish coast, wind turbine installations now provide a practical, renewable source of energy for nations across the globe. In October 2020, the United Kingdom government announced an ambitious plan to ensure that offshore wind produces more electricity than is needed to power every home in the country by 2030. With a current output of 10GW, the UK is now aiming to achieve 40GW a year by 2030 from wind turbines - but it is a complex problem. Wind farms compete for sea space with shipping lanes, dredging concessions, environmentally sensitive areas, fishing grounds, and military training areas. However, over the past decade and the focus on climate action becoming present in our everyday lives, green energy has more public support than ever and thousands of wind farms are being installed worldwide.
