Following completion of the construction of the vessel’s hull, the vessel was “skidded” down the build pad at the shipyard on to a purpose-built delivery barge. The delivery barge then sailed to deeper water to de-ballast, after which the vessel was launched by floating it off the barge. Tugboats then manoeuvred the vessel into the dry-dock, the dock gates were installed and water was pumped from the dock. The remaining construction will be undertaken in the dock. This will include further construction of the superstructure and the installation of equipment and furnishings.

“MPI Adventure” is scheduled to arrive in European waters in the first quarter of 2011, with “MPI Discovery” due to follow during the third quarter.

Paul Gibson, Chairman of MPI Offshore said "The launching of MPI Adventure is a landmark event. I am delighted to see the significant progress that is being made in our newbuild programme. All of us at MPI still have a lot of hard work ahead of us to embrace the exciting challenges the offshore wind industry has to offer us.”

The delivery barge sails to deeper water where it de-ballasts and the vessel is launched by floating off the barge

MPI Offshore, based in Stokesley, UK, has been pioneering the offshore wind turbine installation business since 2003, when the first dedicated wind turbine installation vessel was delivered: MPI Resolution. Over the past seven years MPI has been involved in numerous wind farm construction projects, including those on Barrow and Robin Rigg. During 2008, the company decided to invest USD 550 million in two state-of-the-art wind turbine installation vessels. These vessels are currently under construction at the Cosco Nantong Shipyard in China.

For more information on MPI and its wide-ranging capabilities, please visit: www.mpi-offshore.com.

MPI is a subsidiary of the Vroon Group, a Dutch-based, diversified ship-owning group with an extensive North Sea offshore fleet. For more information, please visit: www.vroon.nl.

For additional information on this press release, please contact:

Name:	Maxine Farnworth
Title:	PR Consultant
Phone No:	+44 (0)1642 742 200
Fax:	+44 (0)1642 714 921
E-Mail:	Maxine.Farnworth@mpi-offshore.com
Website:	www.mpi-offshore.com