The nation’s first offshore wind turbine installation vessel has arrived in Hampton Roads, marking a new milestone in the construction of a large-scale wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach.

The Charybdis, named for the mythological whirlpool sea monster in the Odyssey, was built in Brownsville, Texas, and took almost five years and $700 million to construct. It is the first offshore wind turbine installation vessel in the United States that is compliant with the Jones Act, meaning it is built, owned, operated and crewed by Americans.

The Charybdis was delivered to the Portsmouth Marine Terminal on Sept. 17. Jeremy Slayton, a spokesperson for Dominion Energy, said the vessel is currently going through the final checks for its certificate of inspection before it begins work on the

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