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Wind Installation Vessel

5 steps to assess WTIV competition

Spinergie’s market intelligence equips installation shipowners with the tools needed to assess competition within the market accurately. Thorough analysis can be undertaken in five clear steps using our advanced vessel selector alongside performance and forecasting dashboards all of which can filter and customize searches to ensure you focus only on what you need.

Seeking ways to gain a competitive edge in the offshore wind installation market? 

Understanding the competition is crucial and Spinergie has the tools and analysis that can help you achieve your goal through five key steps. 

Using Spinergie’s advanced vessel selector, alongside our performance and forecasting dashboards, we will show you how to identify competing vessels across the global fleet and evaluate their competitiveness. This will provide you with the keys to maintaining that competitive edge and ensuring success in future operations.

Step 1: identify competing vessels

Spinergie’s vessel selector gives clients the ability to customize their vessel searches and incorporate high levels of detailed specifications. Go beyond the basics of manager, vessel status and location and dig deeper into each vessel spec including deck equipment and emission reduction technologies on board to link your exact capability requirements with availability.

Yet within these already rich filters, there are additional tools which can help in narrowing down a list of installation vessels which will be capable of performing on a particular project. Within our WTIV (Wind Turbine Installation Vessel) selector, clients can select essential project specifics such as turbine capacity and water depth, or go even deeper with advanced parameters that take into account the exact spec of turbine models, crane utilization, clearance lifting, leg penetration and even average wind speed at hub height. 

Once the specs have been determined, you will be provided with a list that depicts the total number of vessels which meet your requirements. These will be graded by whether they are fully capable or are missing some fundamental elements but, in theory, could be capable with upgrades or adjustments. The remaining vessels, which are not capable of the work, are also shown but are marked as unsuitable for the defined scope - helpful in ruling vessels out entirely. 

Once these vessels are selected it is possible to take this specified “fleet” throughout the app for further analysis and assessment.  

Step 2: assess availability 

Assessing availability among the fleet is key. Spinergie’s vessel schedule allows for an at-a-glance overview of past, present and future charters for each vessel selected in the previous step. Simple color-coding makes it easy to see how each vessel is currently employed, whether it be under charter or undergoing a stay inshore, with a timeline of how long each activity will take. 

Clicking on any aspect of the vessel’s schedule displays a tooltip with further overview detail. From here, you can dig deeper into our information sources or visit the vessel’s fact page for additional detailing, work package history and vessel performance analysis. In addition to contractual data, the schedule shows any significant upcoming work - including when an SPS is due - or other contextual data such as a change of manager.

Within the schedule space, it is possible to add your team’s intel and annotations so you all have access to the bigger picture. 

Step 3: evaluate the competitiveness of the fleet

Once the available fleet has been selected it’s time to thoroughly analyze past performances. Spinergie’s wind installation performance dashboard enables shipowners to view an in-depth analysis of both foundation and turbine metrics. 

Both sections are vessel-centric and allow for analysis including (but not limited to):

  • Time at a component for WTG/foundation installation
  • Number of WTG/foundation installations completed per trip
  • Comparison of average vessel days for WTG/foundation installation per wind farm 


As an example: through a graph depicting installation performance by WTG, it is possible to see the median time required to install WTGs. Vessel installation performances can be benchmarked against their competitors via a variety of datasets including turbine capacity, manufacturer and model; foundation type or more location-specific criteria such as wind farm, region or country. 

Push this analysis even further with the addition of a weather filter which will allow you to see the effects specific weather conditions have had on your selected vessels' performance at identical components. 

Step 4: further refinement

Spinergie’s vessel comparator tool makes side-by-side benchmarking simple. Visualize your selected vessels side by side to view critical data points including specs and market context. 

For wind turbine installation vessels it will be most important to view deck equipment detail including lifting capacity, whether the vessel is fitted with a second crane and deck size. Colour-coding from low-to-high ratings makes it easy to see which are the most competitive vessels at a glance. 

It is also possible to compare each vessel’s enviro score which is Spinergie’s rating system for all vessels. It is scored out of 100 and considers emission reduction technologies installed on a vessel alongside behaviour analysis, such as overspeeding. The higher the score the more the vessel is aligned with carbon reduction goals which are increasingly important to operators and developers. 

Step 5: regional demand analysis

Finally, it is useful to be able to see a view of the future demand in the region to visualise similar projects which will see the same vessels competing to undertake the work. Spinergie’s Wind Future Activity dashboard provides this key information in a “top-down” approach. 

From top to bottom, the analysis shows:

  • An initial chart showing analysis gathered top-level information on WTI projects at a country level. 
  • From here, a calculated forecast shows the number of working vessel days which will be required to accomplish these projects. 
  • Finally, it shows the forecast of supply vs demand of WTI JU vessels. 


As with all of Spinergie’s dashboards, the wind forecast analysis can be filtered to varying degrees. It is possible to filter location-specific details including country, region, whether the project will be fixed or floating, turbine capacities and further granular data on wind farm projects such as developer, foundation type and status. From this point, should further customization be required, it is possible to utilize vessel filters such as the main crane capacity.   

Our advanced tools and data-driven approach will help you position your fleet for success within an increasingly competitive market. In following the five key steps outlined in this article, you will be well-equipped with the insights required to make informed decisions and maintain a competitive edge.

Contact Spinergie for a demo and discover how these simple steps within our solution can provide you with the in-depth analysis you need today.

Photo of Sarah McLean
Sarah McLean
Marketing Content Writer
Published on
June 27, 2023
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