2025 a record-breaking year for wind turbine installation vessel deliveries

According to the latest issue of the Clarksons Renewables Newsletter, seven wind turbine installation vessels have been delivered this year, the highest annual total to date.

The broker said this delivery wave reflects orders placed in the period between 2019 and 2022, which are now leaving shipyards. With three vessels coming in 2026 and one in 2027, the orderbook thins rapidly.

“The second cycle of ordering began in 2019 but has slowed sharply, with only two orders placed in the past two years by international owners,” said Clarksons. 

“The pause in newbuilds between 2016 and 2019 followed the large build-out in 2012–15, when owners invested ahead of demand and several units quickly became undersized. That experience still weighs on sentiment.”

As the broker also noted, ordering is now further constrained by limited long-term contracts, a weaker offshore wind outlook, higher interest rates, and reduced equity market appetite. 

“Both established players and newcomers face tighter capital availability and lower risk tolerance than in the period between 2020 and 2021,” the broker concluded.