The US Offshore Wind Industry Gets An Assist From Singapore

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The on-again, off-again Empire Wind offshore wind farm was under construction off the coast of New York last December when US President Donald Trump halted the massive 810-megawatt project in its tracks. Now the work is back on track, and a first-of-its-kind specialized vessel is steaming over from Singapore to install 54 wind turbines at the site. Wait, isn’t there something called the Jones Act…?

Offshore Wind and the Jones Act Whack-a-Mole

As part of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act stipulates that commercial vessels operating from one US port to another must be US-built, owned, and crewed. The aim was to ensure that a loyal fleet of commercial vessels is available during times of war, to keep the supply of goods and materials flowing at the home front.

Eighty-plus years later, the Jones Act fostered a problem for the US offshore wind industry. In order to save time and labor costs on turbine installation, the industry deploys gigantic, specialized SOVs (service operational vessels) that are purpose-built to handle supersized turbine blades and other components. The global offshore wind industry began to crank up to speed in the early 2000’s, but the US ship-building industry did not, and wind developers found themselves caught short on Jones-compliant vessels for offshore wind projects in the US.

More recently, US shipyards have begun producing SOVs for wind farms, in accord with Jones Act requirements. However, the pace of construction is slow, and in the meantime, some wind developers figured out a workaround. They deploy a shuttle model in which the main construction vessel remains parked at the offshore site, while Jones-compliant feeder vessels shuttle back and forth with supplies and passengers.

Oh, So That’s How They Did It

And that explains how a Jones-compliant ship can be built in Singapore to construct an offshore wind farm in the US. The plan began to take shape back in 2024, when the pure-play offshore stakeholder Maersk Offshore Wind (a branch of the global firm A.P. Moller Holding) commissioned its first WTIV (wind turbine installation vessel) from the Singapore-based offshore energy firm Seatrium, with construction to be located at the Seatrium’s Tuas Boulevard shipyard.

“If all goes according to plan, the US will get the very first Maersk WIV to roll off the shipping yard,” CleanTechnica noted in July of 2024. “The ship is being built in Singapore and Maersk expects delivery to Equinor’s Empire Offshore Wind project in New York next year.”

Or not, as the case may be. Aside from any delays on the ship-building side, Empire Wind almost fell victim to the Trump chopper in the spring of 2025, when the president summarily ordered work to halt on the project. An intervention by New York Governor Kathy Hochul enabled work to resume until December 22, when Trump again ordered work to stop on Empire Wind as well as four other Atlantic Coast wind farms that were already deep into the construction phase.

All five projects promptly took their case to federal court earlier this year, where a series of judgements suspended all five stop-work orders pending an appeal by Trump. Last month, Seatrium also announced that the new WTIV has passed its final tests in Singapore. The ship is now in the hands of Maersk, with arrival at the Empire Wind project expected later in March.

A Next-Generation Offshore Wind Vessel for the US

As a rising player in the global offshore wind industry, Seatrium pulled out all the stops to build a new WTIV that can pull duty for the US offshore wind industry and new wind farms elsewhere around the world, while showcasing new systems that make the feeder model more efficient.

“The vessel’s feeder-based installation design enhances operational efficiency, enabled by a stabilising system to hold feeder vessels for the transfer of offshore wind components, even in high sea states,” Seatrium explains.

“This improves installation efficiency by extending the operational weather window, ensuring the WTIV can carry out uninterrupted installations, improving operational efficiency and reducing total cost and time of installation,” the company adds.

“This feeder-based installation solution is US Jones Act compliant and can also be deployed in other geographies,” they emphasize.

Seatrium also points out that the ship is built to handle the gigantic, 15+ megawatt wind turbines of today, with a 1,900-tonne main crane sporting a 180-meter hook height.

For the record, Seatrium used to own a shipyard right here in the US, in Texas, where it built the Charybdis offshore vessel for use at one of the Atlantic wind farms that Trump attempted to halt, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Farm. Last September, Seatrium announced plans to maintain a technology hub in Texas while selling the shipyard to the Turkish firm Karpowership.

The Ship That Almost Wasn’t, Will Be, and So Will the Wind Farm

By way of illustrating just how complicated the offshore wind industry can be, the Trump factor was not the only element throwing a monkey wrench into the Empire Wind timeline. Last fall, Maritime Executive reported that Maersk Offshore Wind was getting cold feet.

“Last fall, with the market under pressure and an uncertain outlook, the company announced it was cancelling the construction contract, despite Seatrium’s protestation that the vessel was more than 90 percent complete,” ME observed.

If you’re thinking that Trump’s stop-work orders against Empire Wind had something to do with Maersk’s decision, drop a note in the comment thread.

However, all’s well that ends well. As reported by ME, the two companies eventually settled their differences, and Seatrium completed the vessel in time for delivery to the Empire Wind site later this month.

“For Seatrium, the unique vessel is a calling card as it seeks to leverage its long heritage in offshore vessels into the offshore wind segment,” ME emphasized, underscoring the ability of legacy offshore firms to apply their resources and know-how to renewable energy industries.

That bodes well for the global offshore wind industry. Despite some hitches here and there, offshore construction continues apace around the world, with new floating wind turbines and multi-purpose potential adding to the momentum.

Too bad Trump decided to exercise his pet peeve against US interests, shutting coastal residents, workers, and businesses out of an abundant new energy industry. Then again, US presidents come and go. Trump is scheduled to leave office on January 20, 2029 — peacefully one hopes, this time — and the wind will continue to blow long after he is gone.

Photo: This next-generation offshore wind vessel from Singapore will install the turbines for the 810-megawatt Empire Wind project, where construction is under way off the coast of New York (cropped, courtesy of Seatrium).