b'JULY 26 -AUGUST 22, 2021BREAKBULK QUARTERLY 11Green Shipping Line proposes US feeder ships to deliver offshore wind componentsBy Stas Margaronis, AJOTU.S.-basedGreenShip- strategy is to gradually build ping Line (GSL) is proposingup a support fleet of vessels tobuildthefirstofwhatitto work with the WTIVs.hopes will be a fleet of feederDominion Energy recently shipstotransportwindtur- announcedthatithascon-binecomponentsfromU.S.tracted with the Keppel Ship-Atlanticcoastportstonewyard in Brownsville, Texas to Atlanticcoastwindfarms,build the first Jones Act jack-accordingtoPercyPyne,up WTIV to install wind tur-Chairman and CEO. bines at its wind farm off the Inaninterviewwithcoast of Virginia.AJOT, Pyne said that GSLsNew Jersey-headquartered planistodeployafeederGSL will contract with Key-vessel,thatisJonesActstoneShippingCompany compliant, so as to transporttooperatetheEleanorand componentstowindturbinefuture vessels. GSL will con-installation vessels (WTIV). tract with Moran Iron Works, Pyne said the GSL feederOnaway, Michigan for vessel shipwilldeliverthecom- (PROPOSEScontinued on ponents to a WTIV that willpage 13) GSLs multi-functional Eleanor can operate out of all ports along the US East Coast. ( Photo DEKC & Amasus Shipping.)installthewindturbineson theoceanfloor:Thewind turbineinstallationvesselis very expensive and operates atadailyrateofbetween $100,000to$200,000per day.Thefeedervesselcan reducethecostsofinstalla-tion by supplying the instal-lation vessel so that it doesnt have to return to port to pick upnewcomponents,itjust loads them off the feeder.Twowindfarmswill soon be built, including one offthecoastofMassachu-settsandanotheroffthe coastofVirginiawithother Atlantic coast wind farms to follow, he said.T heE lEanorGSL has named the first proposedfeedertheElea-nor.ItwillbedesignedtoITS BACK LIVE & IN-PERSONtransport offshore wind com-ponents,includingtowers, nacellesandblades,froma port to installation sites in a two-day cycle, cutting down oncostsandproduction time by over 40 percent. The 364-ft vessels will be the first in the U.S. capable of trans- Sept. 28-30, 2021 portingallcomponentsofa wind tower.Discover New Project Cargo BusinessPyne conceded that weFace-to-Facedonotyethaveacontract with an offshore wind devel- George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, USAoper, but is confident that theRegister now at americas.breakbulk.compotential savings of the feeder ship will attract developers. PynesaidtheEuropean model for installing wind tur-binesworkswellinEurope where there is a large assem-bly port that concentrates the deploymentofcomponents from a large staging area. In the United States, wind farms arejustnowbeingbuilt. U.S.portslackthecapacity tomassivelysupportinstal-lations, but can easily adapt to loading blades and towers onto the feeder ships. The result, Pyne says, is that the upfront infrastructure cost and deployment of com-ponents will be cheaper uti-lizing the feeder vessels out of Atlanticcoastports.The'