ICE recently visited the St. Johns Ship Building (SJSB) yard in Florida as part of a consulting engagement. The yard’s diverse product line includes construction of aluminium crew transfer vessels (CTVs) designed to ferry service technicians quickly and safely to and from offshore wind turbines. Several offshore wind farm developments are ongoing and planned in US waters, creating an expected huge demand for vessels both for installation and later maintenance and ultimately decommissioning of offshore windfarms.
Two of SJSB’s CTVs are ordered by an operator that services Block Island, the first US offshore windfarm. The Block Island turbines were installed by a Gusto-type wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) built in the UAE using drawings and extensive technical support from ICE. Being foreign built, the WTIV was only allowed to stay offshore and not to operate from a US port; the same legislation requires CTVs operating in US waters to be built in the US, creating a promising market for American shipyards such as SJSB.
The picture shows Steinar Draegebo (left) and Berge Hoshovde, ICE Senior Consultant, at the SJSB yard.
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