Page 29: of Marine News Magazine (April 2024)

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engines from Caterpillar. Another in the series, Isabel McAllister, will be delivered in 2024.

Construction of new vessels for the offshore wind markets has fallen short of the boom times forecast only several years ago amid calls for “30 by 30” (30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore power gen- erated by 2030). At a February 2024

New York event hosted by Hellenic

American and Norwegian American

Chambers of Commerce (the HACC

NACC conference), Charlie Papavizas, partner at law ? rm Winston Strawn appearing on an offshore wind panel, expressed concern about “the bad news”—cancellations of widely touted

Rock installation vessel Acadia is being built by Philly wind projects in the U.S. Northeast.

Shipyard for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company.

On the same HACC NACC panel,

Ulstein

Alexandra Tebaldi, from MacAllister

Towing, citing a recent conversion with an industry trade group, said, “The expectation is that we will reach half of our goal by 2030: 14.5 GW. . . The goal stays alive, but we have to ? nd a way forward from here.”

Wind-related newbuild activity has been limited by the short-term nature of contracting. On the same panel, Pa- pavizas said, “Most of the vessels have to be built on spec”, and added that “they are not getting term contracts, except for service operations vessels (SOV).”

Tebaldi estimated the current cost for contracting a Jones Act compliant

SOV at around $180 million.

Two SOVs, contracted in 2022, are presently under construction at Edi- son Chouest facilities. ECO Edison, an SOV (set to support Ørsted and

Eversource projects Revolution Wind,

South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind) is under construction at its Houma, La. facility. Filings with the U.S. Maritime www.marinelink.com MN 29|