Ship taller than Eiffel Tower will build biggest offshore wind farm

Including its 130-metre-long legs, the Voltaire wind turbine installation vessel is 336 metres high. It is on its way from China to the North Sea, where it will install huge new turbines at Dogger Bank

By Jeremy Hsu

A ship taller than a skyscraper is heading to the North Sea to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank, off the north-east coast of England.

The Voltaire “jack-up” ship – so called because it deploys its four 130-metre-long legs to stand on the sea floor – reaches 336 metres, just taller than the Eiffel Tower. Its main deck crane can lift wind turbine components weighing 3200 tonnes – more than 22 times the weight of the Statue of Liberty’s copper and iron body. “Our vessel has been designed especially to install the highest offshore structures …