Page 34: of Marine News Magazine (September 2013)

The formation of the U.S. offshore wind farm indus- try is a lot like the wind itself. You can see things stirring and hear a rustling commotion, but if you are looking for something tangible and physical its just not there. Weve all been told it is coming and have been waiting patiently. Weve seen the successes in Europe and the forecasts for America look promising if the fairy tale can only turn the corner toward reality. In fact, the U.S. commercial marine industry could be blown away by the economic thrust of a new offshore wind market. The windfall could come in the form of higher day rates for tugs, supply vessels, cable lay- ing vessels, and jack-up barges; as well as plenty of orders for new construction purpose-built work boats. So whats been the hold up? Offshore wind is a green initiative and green always means go. Creating a new in- dustry from scratch is no easy task. During the past twelve years, weve been waiting on the power consortiums to form their plans, the U.S. Government to create leasable plats, and for impact studies to be complete. Of course, all the stakeholders also get to have their say inclusive of the ocean freight lines, ? shermen, beachfront hotels, air traf? c controllers, the military, and even the voices of the whales and birds surely gets an ear. Finally, with the hashing out nearly complete, the constituents are coming together, leases are being let and the probability of blades buzzing at sea seems to be drawing near. KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESESWhile the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 still remains a topic for political debate, it continues to provide a great shadow that American boat builders and U.S. ? agged ? eet owners love to seek refuge behind. This shadow has cast somewhat of a gray area when it comes to applicabil- ity for installing U.S. offshore wind farms located in the Outer Continental Shelf. The installation process requires some unique and extreme vessel speci? cations which only a handful of U.S. ? agged vessels can currently meet. The stringent requirements have persuaded Europeans to con- struct purpose built installation vessels. If available for hire, these European installation vessels could be allowed to assist in the U.S. farm installations, perhaps even accel- erating the process. In a few instances, the Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP), charged with administrating Jones Act ap- plicability, has ruled that foreign vessels may engage in equipment installations on the Outer Continental Shelf. CBP could also determine that driving a pole into the sea bed constitutes a point in the U.S., therefore upholding Jones Act authority for point to point commerce. In the end, farm developers may build U.S. vessels or turn to MARAD seeking exemptions. That said; it is apparent that the Jones Act will apply to all support and supply vessels. BRACE FOR IMPACT : If we look to the lessons learned from European wind farms, the picture is clear that it will take many workboats to not only get the U.S. farms up and running but these craft must also remain exclusively available for repair and maintenance. Fleet owners, builders, and suppliers are all bound to bene? t from a piece of the wind farm workboat pie. The ? rst two projects likely to come online, Cape Wind and Bluewater Wind Delaware, are planning to in- stall 130 and 150 turbines respectively. Right on their heels is Deepwater Wind which is recently the apparent success- ful bidder on two plots of sea ? oor located off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island that have the potential capacity for 500 to 600 turbines. Not to sound like a bad riddle, but how many work- boats does it take to create an offshore wind farm? The boat builders rhetorical answer is always it depends.? Each wind farm installation can vary from farm to farm depending on what type of foundation is selected: mono-pile, jacketed/tripod, or tethered and what type of installa- tion vessel will be used. The varying foundations will affect how much work is performed on site and the materials needed. The distance from the port of supply and instal- The momentum for wind power continues to gather on the domestic waterfront. U.S. boatbuilders anxiously await the coming gale. By Joe HudspethWaiting for the Windfall BOATBUILDING September 201334 MNMN Sept2013 Layout 32-49.indd 348/29/2013 5:26:10 PM