New U.S. CTV operator starts construction of its first three vessels

Written by Nick Blenkey
Incat Crowther designed WINDEA CTV vessels will be hybrid ready.

Incat Crowther designed WINDEA CTV vessels will be hybrid ready.

U.S. crew transfer vessel (CTV) operator WINDEA CTV LLC, in which Hornblower is a partner, reports that it has started construction of its first three vessels. Two of the three 30-meter, hybrid-ready Incat Crowther designed CTVs are being constructed at St. Johns Ship Building, Palataka, Fla., and the third at Gulf Craft, Franklin, La.

The CTVs are scheduled to be delivered in 2023 and will immediately go into service for GE Renewables. They will first operate out of New Bedford, Mass., during the Vineyard Wind I construction period.

FIRST WAVE OF PLANNED FLEET

“In collaboration with our operating partner Hornblower we are pleased to be working with Incat Crowther and the shipyards to construct the first vessels of our CTV fleet in the U.S.,” said Bradley Neuberth, managing partner of WINDEA CTV and owner MidOcean Wind. “These three CTVs represent the first wave of our fleet which we have been developing since 2019 with our European partners.”

WINDEA CTV is part of the WINDEA Offshore USA consortium. In addition to CTVs, the consortium offers solutions for service operation vessels (SOVs), feeder vessels, rockfall vessels, onshore terminal operations, and other ancillary services required to build and maintain offshore windfarms.

WINDEA Offshore USA mirrors the efforts of the established German entity WINDEA Offshore, a joint venture of three established and family-owned companies, Bernhard Schulte Offshore, Buss Offshore Solutions, and Ems Maritime Offshore.

The WINDEA CTV fleet is owned and operated by MidOcean Wind LLC and Hornblower Wind, LLC. (a member of Hornblower Group), with technical and operational support from WINDEA Offshore shareholder Ems Maritime Offshore GmbH, which operates a fleet of CTVs in the European market.

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