NEW BEDFORD — A reporter’s job can take you to many places. It was definitely a new experience for me on a recent day aboard the Jones Act Enforcer vessel leaving from Fish Island.
It took about three hours to get from New Bedford to see the new Vineyard Wind offshore wind site off the coast of Nantucket past Martha’s Vineyard. The early morning departure time on Aug. 17 of 6 a.m., or so, the 2:30 p.m. return and the hours in between were eye-opening.
It was interesting to see the blades and other wind components for the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal heading out from Bedford Harbor. It was more interesting to see the ships at sea working on the project.
Aaron Smith, president and CEO of the Offshore Marine Service Association, was our host on this trip. It’s his intent on behalf of the association to be on the lookout for ships in violation of the Jones Act and taking jobs away from American workers.
What is the Jones Act?
The ship is named after the Jones Act, a section of federal law that regulates maritime commerce in the United States by requiring that goods shipped between U.S. points be transported on ships that are built, owned and operated by United States citizens or permanent residents.
Captain Rick Spaid and his crew sped through the water at about 17 knots give or take when he was able and brought us within about 0.5 nautical miles of the ships we saw.
The fog covered what appeared to be two large structures at first, but the closer we got, the more we could see what the fog had covered up.
Seeing the progress at Vineyard Wind
The Seacor Hawk, a U.S. flagged self-elevating platform was alongside the substation where the cables coming from each wind turbine will be connected, and the Giulio Verne, a 436-foot cable layer flagged in Italy, was nearby.
With 245-foot legs, the Seacor Hawk that accommodates 48 people was built in 2007. The Giulio Verne accommodates 90 people and was built in 2011.
We also saw the equally impressive Sea Installer, an offshore wind turbine installation jack-up vessel built in 2012 and sailing under the flag of Denmark. Jack-ups are barges that rise above the water on hydraulically powered legs. Next to it was Go Liberty offshore supply vessel.
I spent a lot of time watching the captain and crew checking the radar to see where the vessels Scott was hoping to show us were located so we could head in their direction and generally avoid obstacles like lobster traps and smaller boats.
You can actually track where these and other vessels are near real-time on marine traffic websites with their coordinates, navigational status, speed and other information.
What is happening at the Vineyard Wind site?
There are 10 bright yellow monopiles for the Vineyard Wind project that have been installed, but it’s just the beginning. A total of 62 turbines will be part of the wind farm.
The waters got a little rough, so some Dramamine at the start of our voyage would have been a good idea, but the highlight was the sight of a pod of dolphins almost flying over the water while racing next to the ship.
Read More: What the Jones Act Enforcer sees