Page 36: of Marine News Magazine (October 2023)

35 37

Offshore

Vessels

Blue Ocean Transfers:

A New Jones Act CTV Player Emerges

By Eric Haun

There’s a new player in the Jones Act crew transfer ves- Houston-based SEACOR Marine, an established op- sel (CTV) market: Blue Ocean Transfers (BOT), based on erator of offshore vessels, will provide technical and op-

Long Island, N.Y. erational management of BOT’s CTV ? eet under a ship

The McQuilling-Partners-owned company is planning management contract.

to build a ? eet of CTVs to support the U.S. offshore wind Used for ferrying personnel and light equipment to and industry as it ramps up to meet the Biden administration’s from offshore wind farms, CTVs are among the Jones-Act- goal of 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030. compliant vessels needed to build and service the pipeline “BOT is a marine logistics equipment manager, whose of new U.S. offshore wind projects. equipment is chartered and deployed by wind ? eld devel- Analysts predict several hundred CTVs will be needed opers and their suppliers,” the company said in a state- in the U.S. as the nation’s offshore wind industry ramps ment. “The BOT business model leverages the speci? c up. However, there are currently only a handful of U.S.- knowledge, experience and skills of different organizations. ? agged CTVs in operation, with about two dozen known

It brings together targeted expertise in capital deployment, to be on order at American shipyards. There have also been ? nancing, ship construction, vessel management and com- a handful of CTV conversions as American operators tap mercial employment and is designed to ensure scalability into an existing ? eet of Jones Act crew boats and ? shing to support a growing CTV vessels amid rising costs for newbuilds.

market while providing com- According to the BOT website, its ? eet will initially petitive hire rates to charterers be comprised of 27- and 31-meter aluminum catamaran on safe, reliable and modern newbuilds designed by Incat Crowther. While ? rm vessel crew transfer vessels.” orders have not been announced, shipbuilders listed un- der the “collaborators” section of the BOT site include

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding in Somerset, Mass.,

Gulf Craft Marine in Franklin, La. and St. Johns

Ship Building in Palatka, Fla.

Blue Ocean Transfers 36 | MN October 2023