Norwegian subsea and offshore wind contractor Havfram confirmed this week the letter of intent had been signed between CIMC Raffles and institutional investors advised by JP Morgan Global Alternatives, in cooperation with Havfram.

The new “state of the art” WTIVs were designed and created in partnership with Gusto MSC and in close collaboration with "leading offshore wind developers and turbine suppliers", according to Havfram.

The company provided little detail of the actual design in Tuesday’s announcement, stating only that it included “green technologies and lessons learned from more than a decade of experience from WTIV operations and offshore wind construction”.

However, Havrfam has previously stated that it was working with Gusto MSC to build a jack-up installation vessel with the capacity to operate on zero emissions fuels and capable of installing 20-megawatt, or larger, wind turbines.

Havfram stated Tuesday that the first vessels under the deal would be built at CIMC Raffles' Yantai yard in China, with delivery slated for 2024.

It added its plan was to operate several vessels in the global offshore wind market with both traditional jack-ups for turbine installation as well as “a cost-effective feeder-solution” for the US market in particular.