Ørsted and WindServe Order More Workboats for U.S. Wind Farms

Offshore wind farm company Ørsted and U.S.-based offshore wind support operator WindServe Marine are partnering to build two new crew transfer vessels (CTVs) for the budding Jones Act wind market. CTVs are the workboats that carry workers to and from offshore wind towers for construction, maintenance and operations, and the newbuilds will be the second and third of their type in America.

North Carolina-based firm U.S. Workboats will build one hull, which will be used for the Ørsted / Dominion Energy-sponsored Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, a small pilot project with two turbines. The second hull will be built at Sensco Marine in Rhode Island and will be used for the Ørsted / Eversource-sponsored Revolution Wind project. The first boat is already under construction at U.S. Workboats and will be delivered next year. 

Both WindServe and Senesco are owned by Reinauer Transportation, which has been involved in the U.S. East Coast maritime industry for nearly 100 years.

“Choosing WindServe to build our CTVs at Senesco will provide locally built vessels and a local operator for the domestic offshore wind industry,” said Thomas Brostrøm, president and CEO of Ørsted North America. “WindServe Marine’s experience with Jones Act vessel operations and full service shipyard fabrication, coupled with their dedication to the future of green energy, make them a great partner as we expand operations along the East Coast.”

Construction of the two DNV GL-classed vessels is expected to support about 40 jobs. 

Ørsted, the world's largest offshore wind operator, already runs the 30 MW Block Island Wind Farm, the first commercial-scale facility of its kind in the U.S. Its $1 billion Revolution Wind project will see the installation of an additional 700 MW of turbine capacity at a site roughly 20 nm to the east of Block Island.