At 197 metres long and 87 metres wide, Saipem 7000 is the third-largest crane vessel in the world. And it is on a journey that is metaphorical as well as physical – it is transitioning from fossil to green.

Currently owned by Italian energy contractor Saipem, the ship began cruising the seas in 1987 at the trudging clip of 9.5 knots (17.5 kilometres per hour) to build and instal offshore oil platforms. Its two cranes – jointly lifting up to 14,000 tonnes – hoist and lay down pre-assembled platforms, allowing structures to be built and tested on dry land, before being loaded whole on the ship, transported to the site, and positioned.

In 1999, the ship was fitted with pipe-laying technology, which automatically welds hundreds of pipeline segments into one ribbon that is gradually eased into the sea as the ship plows forward. More recently, Saipem 7000 has pivoted to renewable energy. In 2016, it helped assemble and place the wind turbines of Hywind, the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, built off the coast of Scotland and operated by Norwegian multinational Equinor.

“It took us six hours to install the first wind turbine generator, from lift-off from the quay to completion of the installation onto the floating unit,” recounts Nigel Swinnerton, Saipem’s head of assets and operations. “[Installing] the fifth and final wind turbine generator took three hours.”

More green projects are in the pipeline, as Saipem is trying to reduce the oil part of its business ( as of September 2019, 70 per cent of the company’s business involved non-oil projects); the firm recently won contracts for the offshore wind park Neart na Gaoithe, still in Scotland, and the Formosa 2 wind farm in Taiwan.

How will Saipem 7000 remain still in calm and rough seas – and while installing turbines whose rotors have a diameter of over 160 metres? “A system of 12 thrusters ensures that the vessel maintains good station-keeping in the most difficult of weather conditions,” says Swinnerton.

Gian Volpicelli is WIRED's politics editor. He tweets from @Gmvolpi

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This article was originally published by WIRED UK