Vineyard Wind said in a statement Thursday that its project complies with all U.S. The other developer, Vineyard Wind, is building a 62-turbine wind farm 15 miles (24 kilometers) off the Massachusetts coast. “I can’t say we’re being shut out of it, but we’re sure not on the top of the totem pole.”Īs for the Jones Act Enforcer, Smith plans to keep it berthed at the port of New Bedford, Massachusetts into August, visiting the two commercial-scale wind farm sites. “I’m just concerned that our industry is going to miss the boat on the wind farm work,” he said. He wants to do the same for the clean energy transition, but hasn’t yet. His vessels do geological surveys for oil and gas. Randy Adams owns Sea Support Ventures in Cut Off, Louisiana. “That’s a ton of work we could be doing,” Smith said, “and a ton of good-paying jobs.” Federal officials expect to review at least 16 construction and operations plans for commercial, offshore wind energy facilities by 2025. The association wants to break that cycle as the industry takes off, Smith said. That would create a cycle where developers keep using foreign vessels because no U.S. He said he worries investors won’t finance the building of offshore ships if they’re going to compete against foreign vessels with cheaper day rates, largely because foreign crews can be paid less. vessels, or get a ruling from Customs that a specific transaction is permitted using a foreign vessel.īut Smith said he feels that offshore wind developers are violating the spirit of the act. It first chartered the Enforcer from Harvey Gulf International Marine in late 2021.īoth wind and oil and gas companies can seek waivers to the Jones Act, citing national defense and unavailability of U.S. In the past, the association has also checked oil and gas sites for foreign vessels. It would need to show loading merchandise onto a ship in port, transporting it to an offshore site and returning empty. On this day, Smith said he could see no clear violations of the Jones Act, no “smoking gun.” In order to make a Jones Act case to Customs and Border Protection, the association would need to see several stages of activity, observing a ship for weeks if not months. Ørsted’s offshore work is complying with Jones Act provisions, Stockton added. We’re proud that South Fork Wind is putting hundreds of American mariners and union workers to work at sea in a wide range of roles,” Bryan Stockton, head of regulatory affairs for Ørsted, said in a statement Thursday. industry continues to mature, we’re designing our projects to tap as many American workers, contractors, suppliers and vessels as possible. Even so, the installation vessels for South Fork Wind have American union workers on board, the company told the AP. But the larger U.S.-flagged offshore wind vessels aren’t built yet. Ørsted responded that 75% of the vessels supporting South Fork Wind’s offshore construction are U.S.-flagged, including barges, tugs, crew transport vessels and fishing vessels that monitor for safety and marine mammals. ship operators told the AP they have similar vessels that can do this work. But some of the foreign-flagged vessels working in wind development areas along the East Coast are tugs and smaller supply ships. fleet doesn’t yet have massive ships specialized for offshore wind to install foundations and turbines. The Associated Press was the only media outlet aboard. fishing and offshore supply vessels near the turbine bases. commercial-scale wind farm to open.Īpproaching the site Tuesday, Smith saw a large crane ship sailing under the Cyprus flag, smaller Belgian-flagged vessels, and U.S. The Enforcer made several trips to where Danish energy company Ørsted is developing the South Fork Wind project with the utility Eversource. could need roughly 2,000 of the most powerful turbines to meet its goals to ramp up offshore wind to dramatically cut its use of fossil fuels to protect the atmosphere and reduce climate change. Smith said this effort is about securing their future - decades of jobs and investments. Many of its member companies are already working in it. The Offshore Marine Service Association says it strongly supports the offshore wind industry. The fishing vessel New Horizon motors, with outriggers out for balance, past a monopile structure for an offshore wind farm project, while working with foreign ships, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, off the coast of Rhode Island.
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