Contract Signed for First Classed Offshore Wind Vessel in U.S.

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Classification DNV GL on Wednesday announced it has been awarded a contract to class a purpose-built offshore wind vessel built in the United States.

The contract was awarded by WindServe Marine, LLC covering for offshore Crew Transfer Vessel for Ørsted North America. The contract covers the construction of the vessel, which will be the first offshore wind vessel built in the United States to class requirements.

The high-speed aluminum catamaran is a custom design from the U.K.-based BMT Group, who has extensive offshore wind experience and a large portfolio of offshore wind vessels, including 49 CTVs currently operating in Europe. DNV GL says the new state-of-the-art design from BMT will built specifically for U.S. East Coast sea conditions and will be used by Ørsted in their expanding operations in the region.

“With their breadth of knowledge in offshore wind and years of experience in the European market, DNV GL was a natural class partner for this project,” said Josh Diedrich, Business Development Director at WindServe. “We have been tremendously pleased by the support and consultation we have received so far and look forward to more excellent collaboration moving forward.”

The first CTV is scheduled for delivery in early 2020 and will be built by U.S. Workboats in Hubert, North Carolina. The vessel will initially be utilized for Ørsted’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, followed by subsequent service on Northeast projects.

A second CTV will be built by WindServe’s affiliate shipyard Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, Rhode Island specifically for Ørsted’s and Eversource’s Revolution Wind project in Rhode Island.

“We are very pleased to be selected as the classification partner for this purpose-built vessel and we look forward to supporting WindServe and Ørsted in realizing their successful delivery, as well as their future plans,” said Antony DSouza, EVP and Regional Manager DNV GL Maritime Americas.
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Sergio Garcia, Regional Business Development Manager for DNV GL Maritime Americas, commented: “We believe success relies on understanding the dependencies between different parts of the offshore wind value chain, which is why we take a full lifecycle approach to managing risks, reducing costs, and maintaining quality. We are excited about the future of the U.S. Offshore wind market and are committed to utilizing our 30-plus years of experience in this segment to support and facilitate the safe and efficient planning, construction and management of related projects in this region.”

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