On the Ways

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS Senesco, Blount Boats building CTVs for Ørsted and Eversource

Five new crew transfer vessels for WindServe Marine, Staten Island, N.Y., and American Offshore Services (AOS), Boston, will be built at two shipyards, the companies announced in late January.

WindServe Marine’s af liate shipyard, Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, R.I., will build three 88'6"×29'6" vessels, and AOS is partnering with Blount Boats, Warren, R.I., to build two 101' vessels.

The boats are designed to handle offshore conditions at wind turbine arrays about 15 miles from southern New England, transporting technicians and materials between local ports and the project sites of Revolution Wind, South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind.

“Rhode Island knows offshore wind and we are proud to be delivering even more jobs to the Ocean State’s marine trades to build these new crew vessels,” David Hardy, CEO of Ørsted Offshore North America, said in a

WindServe Marine

Five new 88' crew transfer vessels will be delivered in the next two years.

joint statement announcing plans for the support eet. “Our continuing commitment to Rhode Island shipbuilders, together with our selection of rst-rate regional vessel operators, is just the latest example of our work to build a domestic supply chain to support the growing offshore wind industry.” Construction is expected to start early this year at Senesco on the WindServe vessels and at Blount Boats on the AOS vessels. All ve vessels will be delivered over the next two years to provide crew transfer support during the construction phases of the Ørsted and Eversource joint venture’s three

BOATBUILDING BITTS

American Cruise Lines in January revealed the details of Project Blue — a new fl eet of go-anywhere ships for the U.S. market. The project calls for the construction of 12 identical sisterships that will more than double the U.S. capacity for domestic coastal cruises. ACL said the new 241'x56', 109-passenger boats will feature a hybrid catamaran design and will operate exclusively in the U.S., with a focus on small towns and close-to-home adventures. “Project Blue started as a design challenge to create a boat small enough for New England harbors and stable enough for the Alaska Inside Passage, with a draft shallow enough for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway,” said Charles B. Robertson, president and CEO of ACL. “These boats can run almost anywhere, and because there will be 12 of them, they will be deployed all over the United States.” Like all of ACL’s new ships, the Project Blue fl eet will be built by ACL’s Chesapeake Shipbuilding, Salisbury, Md. The fi rst two Project Blue vessels are under construction and due for delivery in 2023.

In December, Blakeley BoatWorks, Mobile, Ala., delivered the 70’x28’, 1,600-hp Green Wave, a fully compliant, Subchapter M inland pushboat, to Plimsoll Marine, LaPlace, La. The vessel will operate within the Cooper Consolidated

American Cruise Lines

241' passenger vessel for near-shore operating versatility

LLC fl eeting footprint, the largest fl eeting footprint on the Lower Mississippi River. All three companies are part of the Cooper Group of Companies. Designed by Farrell & Norton Naval Architects, the towboat is powered by

Northeast projects. The first vessel will be completed by early 2023.

Main propulsion for each aluminum WindServe vessel will come from four Volvo IPS diesel engines. Volvo will also handle the steering and control systems. The propulsion package will give the boats a running speed of 27 knots. The boats will have a draft of 4.9'.

Kohler will provide ship’s service power and ancillary equipment will include a knuckle-boom bow crane.

The WindServe CTVs will be ABS classed HSQE and ISM and USCG certified, Subchapter L.

The companies say the newbuild work and chartering operations will create about 80 local construction jobs at Senesco and Blount, and about 48 jobs for captains and crew who will work aboard the vessels, primarily during the wind farms’ construction.

Regional suppliers will provide vessel components, such as electronics, engines, cranes, aluminum, and safety equipment.

Both shipyards were early leaders in building U.S.-flag offshore wind crew transfer vessels. Blount Boats built the first offshore wind crew transfer vessel in the U.S., the Atlantic Pioneer, which has served Ørsted’s Block Island Wind Farm since that first U.S. commercial offshore wind project began operations in 2016.

Senesco built the WindServe Journey crew transfer vessel, which began working in 2020 at the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Working with Virginia-based Dominion Energy, Ørsted has supported the engineering, procurement and construction of that project, to date the largest planned U.S. array at 2.6 gigawatts design capacity. — Kirk Moore

Brix Marine

32' water taxi operates around Cortes Island, British Columbia. Brix Marine delivers new water taxi to Canada

Brix Marine, Port Angeles, Wash., designed and delivered a 32'×12' catamaran, Goat 1, to the Qathen Xwegus Management Corp. (QXMC) in September. The Goat 1 is the newest installment of Brix Marine’s PAXCAT portfolio.

QXMC is the business arm of the Klahoose First Nation, located on Cortes Island, British Columbia, Canada. QXMC, whose activities include

two Caterpillar C32 800-hp Tier 3 diesel marine engines coupled to two Twin Disc MGX5222 gears. Electrical power is supplied by two Caterpillar C4.4 Tier 3 generators. A pair of Southeastern Propeller 70” 4-bladed stainless steel propellers provide thrust through two J&S Machine Works Inc. 7” ABS Grade two propeller shafts with Thordon shaft bearings, Thordon rudder bearings, and Kemel shaft seals. HydraForce LLC supplied the steering system for the two 7” main and four 7” flanking rudders. The towboat has tankage for 22,000 gals. of fuel and 5,200 gals. of fresh water. The vessel is outfitted with four staterooms housing seven crew, three baths and a full galley.

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., held the keel laying of the future 337’10”x93’6” USNS Cody (EPF 14) in late January. Cody is a Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport (EPF), one of 15 that the Navy has contracted Austal to build. It‘s first Navy ship named for the city of Cody, Wyo.

Vane Brothers, Baltimore, took delivery in January of the final boat in a series of four 3,000-hp Salisbury-class push tugs. The Charles Hughes, Vane’s newest addition, is the 20th Marylandbuilt towing vessel to join Vane’s fleet since 2008. Designed and constructed by Chesapeake Shipbuilding, Salisbury, Md., Vane’s Salisbury-class push tugs have a molded depth of only 10.5’, making them well suited for working in confined, shallow-draft waterways. The Charles Hughes’ operational area is the Northeast U.S. The 3,000-hp boat

Austal USA

The first Navy ship named for the city of Cody, Wyo.

ADVANCING

U.S. OFFSHORE WIND

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT TODAY

www.eagle.org/offshorewind

Chartwell Marine

78.7' off shore energy support vessel.

is equipped with Caterpillar 3512 main engines, conventional shafts, rudders and fl anking rudders. The Cats each produce 1,500 hp at 1,800 rpm and are connected to stainless steel Hung Shen troost-style 5-bladed propellers through Twin Disc MGX-5600 gears with 6:1 ratios. The propulsion package gives the tug a running speed of 10.5 knots. The new push tug will accommodate up to seven crew.

U.K.-based Chartwell Marine and BAR Technologies are launching what they describe as the “fi rstin-market” off shore energy support vessel (OESV) equipped with hydrofoils. The hydrofoils were developed from lifting foils in high-end yacht racing including America’s Cup contenders. The Chartwell Seacat Sceptre, built at Diverse Marine in Cowes, Isle of Wight, for off shore wind energy service operator Seacat Services, was undergoing sea trials in late January. The new boat is based on Chartwell’s 24-meter (78.7’) crew service vessel design, driven by Kongsberg Kamewa S56 waterjets and a 26-passenger capacity.

Bermuda has awarded a contract to Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corp., for a new 52' Chesapeakeclass pilot boat. Delivery is scheduled for early 2023. The Somerset, Mass., shipyard built a 61’ pilot/rescue vessel for Bermuda in 2011. With a deep-V hull designed by Ray Hunt Design, the new all-aluminum pilot boat measures 52.11’×15.10’ with a 4.8’ draft. Powered by twin Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines, each producing 670 hp at 2,100 rpm, the vessel’s top speed is expected to reach 22 knots. The engines will turn a pair of 5-bladed Brunton nibral propellers via ZF 500-1-A gear boxes. The launch will have a 9-kW Northern Lights genset.

Southern Illinois Transfer, Sparta, Ill., is building a new retractable pilothouse vessel at Kaskaskia Shipyard Inc., Red Bud, Ill. The new towboat will be powered by two Mitsubishi diesel propulsion engines, supplied by Laborde Products, Covington, La. Main propulsion will come from Mitsubishi S6R2-Y3MPTAW Tier 3 diesel marine engines rated at 803 hp at 1,400 rpm each. This is the fi rst newbuild where Laborde supplied Mitsubishi engines to be coupled to Veth Z-drives.

forestry, aquaculture, tourism and retail, operates the 12-passenger vessel as a water taxi.

The water taxi services the Klahoose Wilderness Resort, located in Desolation Sound, British Columbia. “This process took more than a year going from design to delivery, but we couldn’t be happier. We were looking for a quality, custom build and working with Charlie Crane and the Brix team allowed us to make our vision happen. Our new water taxi business could not start on a better foot,” QXMC general manager Bruno Pereira said.

Powered by twin Volvo Penta D4 270-hp engines with Aquamatic DPI outdrives, Goat 1 is designed to provide quick and efficient transport throughout Desolation Sound. Electrical service includes a 12VDC system, eight dual USB ports for passengers, and 30 amps of shore power at the dock.

The 3212-CTC model’s full walkaround configuration with interior overhead grab rails along the centerline, combined with two side boarding doors port and starboard, allows for safe passenger access from stem to stern.

An 18,750-BTU diesel heated cabin, exterior-accessed head with an electric marine toilet, and 12 individual passenger seats ensure comfort. Also, on deck are six 11" tie up cleats, a hinged anchor storage locker at the bow, walk- through transom with hinged aluminum gate, handrails and grab rails throughout, folding radar and antenna mast, and a roof access ladder.

Tankage includes two 150-gal. fuel tanks and a 25-gal. fresh-water tank.

Brix’s PAXCAT portfolio is a line of aluminum catamarans up to 52' that can be custom designed to each owner’s requirements. — Ken Hocke

The new tug carries an ABS International Loadline in addition to being built to Subchapter M certification and receiving a USCG COI.

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Acceptance trials for LCS 30 were completed in early November 2021.