It was announced that institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives, in cooperation with Havfram AS, have signed a letter of intent with CIMC-Raffles to build a series of next generation, state of the art wind turbine installation vessels (“WTIV”).

These vessels will be offered for market entry in 2024.The first vessels will be built at CIMC-Raffle’s Yantai yard in China for delivery in 2024. The plan is to operate several vessels in the global offshore wind market with both traditional jack-ups for turbine installation as well as a cost-effective feeder-solution for the US market in particular.

The WTIVs have been designed and created by an experienced offshore wind team focusing on installation efficiency in partnership with Gusto MSC as ship designer and in close collaboration with leading offshore wind developers and turbine suppliers.

The design includes green technologies and lessons learned from more than a decade of experience from WTIV operations and offshore wind construction.Havfram is a reputed offshore marine construction company and is known for its subsea construction capabilities, completion track record, EPCI capability and seasoned project execution team.

J.P. Morgan’s Global Transportation group is an active developer, owner and operator of a broad range of air, sea, and land-based transportation assets. With a fleet of over 100 vessels, the group brings a deep knowledge base to bear in all shipping sectors.