Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) has announced the company is moving forward with the design and development of a U.S.-flagged Jones Act compliant, inclined fallpipe vessel for subsea rock installation. The vessel represents a critical advancement in building the future of the new U.S. offshore wind industry, including establishing a U.S.-based rock supply chain network spanning eastern seaboard states with active offshore wind leases.
Pending business conditions and a final investment decision, GLDD’s vessel will be U.S. owned, built and operated by American workers. The vessel is expected to help spur additional job growth and regional economic opportunities corresponding with the establishment of a U.S.-based rock supply chain network for subsea rock installation, with quarries in states along the East Coast. Further, the project should generate additional economic and job opportunities on the Gulf Coast, where the vessel will be built. While the vessel initially would serve the East Coast, GLDD believes it will be available as offshore wind projects develop along the Gulf and West Coasts.
GLDD has engaged engineering firm Ulstein Design and Solutions for the vessel’s conceptual and regulatory design engineering. Pending federal permitting and regulatory approvals as well as a final investment decision, the vessel will be operational as early as Q1 2024, to coincide with major offshore wind project construction timelines.
The Jones Act is a federal law that regulates maritime commerce in the United States and requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on ships that are built, owned and operated by U.S. citizens or permanent residents.