Beyond Jack-Ups: A Moonshot for Future Offshore Wind Turbine Installation Vessels for an Uncertain Market

Abstract

This paper addresses the growing offshore wind market's demand for larger turbines in deeper waters by highlighting limitations in existing installation solutions and proposing a new concept with a floating monohull, named Moonshot, which will thus be different than traditional jack-up or semi-submersible crane installation vessel options. This paper discusses the design process, which combines Ulstein Rotterdam’s Controlled Innovation and Blended Design to develop the concept. This process is used to
explore various market scenarios to determine optimal vessel parameters. Results demonstrate how optimizing for financial performance or seakeeping behavior impacts the design. Moonshot's initial parameters are established, and its performance is compared to existing installation solutions.