Page 37: of Marine News Magazine (August 2023)

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operational stages. Based on the sheer volume of projects in the pipeline, analysts predict a large ? eet—potentially sev- eral hundred CTVs—by the middle of next decade.

Service operation vessels

SOVs, used during the operation and maintenance (O&M) phases of wind farm projects, serve as an at-sea base of operations to accommodate and transfer technicians, tools and equipment to and from the individual turbines.

Whereas smaller aluminum CTVs are used for shorter daytrips, larger SOVs are often made of steel and used for farther, sometimes weeks-long treks offshore. Like CTVs,

SOVs must be Jones-Act-compliant. At present, there are three SOVs known to be under construction at U.S. ship- yards: ECO Edison and a to-be-named SOV being built for

Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) at its Gulf Coast yards, and an SOV for Crest Wind, a Crowley-ESVAGT joint ven- ture, at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

Scheduled for delivery in 2024, ECO Edison will be chartered by Ørsted at its South Fork, Sunrise, Revolution and Block Island wind farms. ECO’s second SOV will be chartered by Equinor for work at the Empire Wind 1&2 projects. Slated to enter service in 2026, the Crest Wind vessel will serve the Dominion Energy CVOW project un- der long-term charter to Siemens Gamesa.

It’s anticipated that many more SOVs will be ordered in the coming years as additional offshore wind projects advance. It is anticipated that a few dozen Jones Act SOVs will be needed by 2035.

It is worth noting also that SOV conversions are also seen as an option in addition to newbuilds. Several existing U.S. vessels from the Gulf of Mexico are in the process of being converted to perform as SOVs. Otto Candies is converting two of its offshore supply vessels (OSV) from the oil and gas market to operate as SOVs for wind projects in waters off the U.S. Northeast coast. Hornbeck Offshore Services recently revealed it has contracted Eastern Shipbuilding

Group to convert one of its OSVs to a SOV as well.

Subsea rock installation vessels

At the moment, Philly shipyard is the only U.S. yard building SRIVs, which are used for the transport and strate- gic placement of rocks on the sea? oor as a foundation for off- shore wind turbine monopiles. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock’s www.marinelink.com MN 37|