Massive Crane Vessel Arrives in U.S. to Support Offshore Wind Install
The massive semi-submersible crane vessel Thialf has been drawing a lot of local attention since the vessel arrived in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island on Monday, May 26. The second-largest vessel of her kind, she arrived in the U.S. repositioning from Rotterdam and will be used to support the first phase of the offshore installation for Equinor’s Empire Wind offshore wind farm.
The vessel anchored between Jamestown and Newport drew a lot of attention from the local media and residents while opponents of offshore wind took to social media announcing the arrival of the “death star” (a reference to the Star Wars movies franchise).
Standing at a height of up to 470 feet and capable of lifting up to 14,200 metric tons, Thialf was the largest floating crane vessel in the world from when she was built in 1985 until Heerema Marine added the Sleipnir in 2019. The vessel was mostly used to support offshore oil and gas projects but more recently has also been used for monopoles and other elements off offshore wind projects.
A spokesperson for Equinor and the Harbormaster for Jamestown both confirmed to the Rhode Island media that the vessel is on a short layover for staging. She is conducting a crew swap and taking on teams before she heads offshore to the site south of Long Island for the Empire Wind project.
She arrived in the U.S. just a week after the Trump administration lifted a month’s long stop work order for the wind farm. Equinor had highlighted that the project was 30 percent complete and proceeding with its onshore work. Offshore work was scheduled to start this spring for the wind farm which is due to be completed by 2027.
The second-largest crane ship on the planet steamed into Newport Harbor Monday afternoon — and its arrival has environmentalists and fishermen sounding the alarm.
— Newport Buzz (@NewportBuzz) May 26, 2025
The SSCV Thialf, a towering 661.5-foot vessel with a beam of 290 feet and a jaw-dropping height of 472 feet, is now… pic.twitter.com/PI0TsWvNs3
According to the reports, the Thialf will be working to start the monopile installation for the 54 wind turbines planned for Empire Wind. It will also be placing the foundation for the offshore substation for the wind farm.
The manufacturing of the first monopile for Empire Wind was completed in November 2024 and in April Netherlands-based Sif reported that the first six of the 54 foundations have departed Rotterdam for transit to New York. The company had reported it was proceeding with the project during the month-long pause in the U.S.
Equinor reported in 2022 that it had contracted with what is now Maersk Offshore for its newly-built wind turbine installation vessel to install the turbines for Empire Wind. The plan calls for the wind turbine components to be staged at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal and moved to the site on barges with tugs from Crowley.
The project projects that first power will be generated in 2026. When completed, it will have a capacity of 810 MW.