Vineyard Wind Charters CTVs from Local Companies

Vineyard Wind has signed a charter agreement with Massachusetts-based Patriot Offshore Maritime Services for a crew transfer vessel (CTV) for work on the 806 MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm.

The CTV will be delivered during mid–2023 and deployed directly into construction, transporting essential personnel and equipment in support of the project.

The 27-metre vessel will be of an Incat Crowther catamaran design, capable of carrying up to 24 technicians and personnel, and built at Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding in Somerset, Massachusetts.

Vineyard Wind, which also has the option to charter additional CTVs from Patriot, said that the selection of the Patriot and Gladding-Hearn shipbuilding team would optimise the local content benefits of its Vineyard Wind project.

In addition to the Patriot’s vessel, Vineyard Wind has also signed a contract with American Offshore Services for a second CTV that will be built by Blount Boats in Rhode Island. 

The US-flagged CTVs will be fully Jones Act compliant and will be manned and operated by locally sourced maritime union labour during the construction phase of the project that started in November last year.

The vessel will initially operate from New Bedford and other Massachusetts ports during the construction of Vineyard Wind 1 and then be based in Vineyard Haven during the project’s operation and maintenance phase.

“The development of offshore wind in the U.S. is creating jobs and new business opportunities for maritime companies like Patriot, and we’re proud to work with local labor to build the nation-leading Vineyard Wind project,” commented Bill White, President & CEO of Avangrid Renewables, Offshore.

“Drawing from skilled and experienced maritime services in Massachusetts is a win-win for our project and local workers, and represents another important step in this growing American industry.”

Located 15 miles (approximately 24 kilometres) off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Vineyard Wind 1 is the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the US to achieve financial close and, at USD 2.3 billion, represents one of the largest investments in a single renewable energy projects in the US.

The project will feature 62 GE Haliade-X 13 MW wind turbines, to be installed by DEME Offshore’s US arm.

Scheduled to deliver its first power to the grid in 2023, the wind farm will generate enough electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Vineyard Wind, LLC. is a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

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