Seatrium delivers US$475 million vessel to Maersk for wind project targeted by Trump’s stop-work order
The vessel was central to a now-resolved arbitration dispute between the two groups in late 2025
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[SINGAPORE] Seatrium has delivered a US$475 million wind turbine installation vessel to Maersk Offshore Wind to facilitate the development of a wind farm.
The vessel is due to set sail in March for its first assignment at the Empire Wind project located off the coast of New York. There, it will “play a pivotal role in advancing the wind farm’s mission to deliver clean and reliable energy to 500,000 homes”, said the offshore and marine specialist on Friday (Feb 27).
The vessel was central to an arbitration dispute between Seatrium and Maersk in late 2025, which occurred after Maersk attempted to terminate the contract inked with a Seatrium unit for the vessel’s construction.
Empire Wind was also implicated in attempts by US President Donald Trump to torpedo offshore wind farms last year, The New York Times reported.
A US federal agency in December 2025 issued stop-work orders to five major wind projects, including Empire Wind, citing national security concerns. Subsequently, a US federal judge thwarted Trump’s move and ruled that Empire Wind could resume.
Arbitration dispute
Seatrium’s subsidiary, Seatrium Energy International, entered into a contract to build the vessel for Maersk through the latter’s affiliate Phoenix II.
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The vessel was to be deployed at the US offshore wind farm, Empire Wind 1, with the project initially scheduled for completion in early 2025.
On Oct 9, 2025, Seatrium Energy International received a notice of termination regarding the contract. The project was around 98.9 per cent complete at the time.
The Seatrium unit rejected the termination on Oct 12, 2025, and informed Phoenix II that the vessel would be delivered by Jan 30, 2026.
On Oct 21, 2025, Seatrium Energy International received a notice of arbitration from Phoenix II; in turn, it commenced arbitration against the Maersk affiliate on Nov 28, 2025.
On Dec 22, 2025, Seatrium announced that the dispute had been resolved as its unit and Phoenix II had agreed that the vessel would be delivered by Feb 28, 2026.
The Maersk affiliate agreed to pay the balance of the contract price, a sum of US$360 million, upon the vessel’s delivery.
William Gu, executive vice-president of Seatrium Energy (Marketing), noted that the vessel represents a “major step forward” for the global offshore wind sector.
“We are proud to deliver this unique vessel to our partner, Maersk Offshore Wind, to advance the progress of the end customer’s wind farm development,” he said.
The vessel’s delivery on Thursday followed the completion of sea trial activities and final readiness evaluations.
Vessel features
The vessel was built and custom-engineered by Seatrium for the purpose of installing some of the world’s largest offshore wind turbines.
It has a “feeder-based installation design (that) enhances operational efficiency”, as it is equipped with a “stabilising system” that can hold feeder vessels for the transfer of offshore wind components in high-sea states.
Seatrium said this feature “improves installation efficiency by extending the operational weather window”. This ensures the vessel “can carry out uninterrupted installations, improving operational efficiency and reducing total cost and time of installation”.
The group noted that the feeder-based installation solution design feature is compliant with the US Jones Act and “can also be deployed in other geographies”.
Seatrium shares closed Friday 5.3 per cent or S$0.12 higher at S$2.40, after the news.
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