[VIDEO] MPI Adventure, the World's Largest Wind Turbine Installation Ship

The world’s largest wind turbine installation ship, the MPI Adventure, entered the Port of Tyne, dwarfing all of the other ships and shore houses as it made its way in.

The colossal vessel, which can lift itself out of the water on huge hydraulic legs, has been commissioned by the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) to collect a 750-tonne Met Mast fitted with the latest technologies for measuring wind resource and collecting marine conditions and marine life data, reports UK-based The Journal.

Dubbed the ‘next generation’ of wind turbine installation ships, the MPI Adventure is 138.5m long and almost 41m wide; it is designed to transport, lift and install wind turbines and their foundations. It weighs 14,739 tonnes and its six legs can reach 72 meters down into the sea.

Its jack-up legs will be lowered to the riverbed seven meters beneath the hull to create an anchored platform. Then the 104m main crane will begin the job of lifting Met Mast onboard. Met Mast’s 635-tonne tripod foundation and 100-tonne platform will take about 18 hours to load and secure.

The MPI Adventure is expected to leave Tyne later this week for its final destination.