The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has given its stamp of approval on the design of a new hydrogen-ready wind turbine installation vessel intended for the US market, according to gCaptain. This will be a first for a US-flagged service operation vessel.

The Approval in Principal was to Ned Project Inc. for its Jones Act compliant NP20000X ULAM design, which was developed to meet future offshore wind market demands by having the capability of handling 15-20 MW wind turbine installations. The design loads monopiles vertically on the 8,000 square-meter deck, eliminating the need to rotate monopiles to the vertical position at sea, which is intended to increase efficiency and safety.

According to Ned Project, the design is also equipped with a leg encircling heavy cargo crane with a working load of 3,500 tonnes capable of handling turbines of 240-meter rotor diameter and 150-meter tower height.

The challenge of any company using a vessel in US waters which goes between US ports is the Jones Act. This act, signed in 1920, 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 United States citizens or permanent residents.

A container ship coming from China and owned by a Chinese or South Korean company can only stop at one US port. If a container ship, for example, is used to transport goods from Florida to Puerto Rico, it has to be a US flagged vessel.

Due to costs involved, boats and ships are often times kept beyond their service life. This affects everything from lobster boats to tankers.