Policy

Will Charybdis be the high-water mark of US offshore wind shipbuilding?

Nation's one and only WTIV an achievement for American manufacturing but launched into a much diminished sector

Dominion Energy's Charybdis arriving at Portsmouth Marine Terminal for the first time.
Dominion Energy's Charybdis arriving at Portsmouth Marine Terminal for the first time.Photo: Jorge Veliz/Dominion
US Offshore Wind Editor, Recharge
The arrival of Dominion Energy’s Charybdis wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Virginia marked a major achievement for both US shipbuilding and the offshore wind industry.
Constructed over the last five years, the $715m vessel built by Seatrium at the Singapore group's yard in Galveston, Texas, is the only Jones Act-qualified WTIV for the US offshore wind industry. It is slated to begin working on Dominion’s 2.6GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) array this month.

The Jones Act is a US maritime law that bans foreign-flagged vessels from calling in at consecutive US ports or points on the outer continental shelf, including wind turbine foundations. The five US projects currently in construction must deploy costly and higher risk workarounds of domestically-built barges feeding foreign-flagged WTIV that remain at the lease site.

At 472 feet (144 metres), Charybdis is one of the largest WTIVs afloat, with a crane capable of raising 2,200 tonnes, ensuring it will keep up with increasingly larger turbines.

It’s also packed with US content, including 14,000 tonnes of steel, most of it produced in Alabama, North Carolina, and West Virginia.

Some 2,000 workers laboured on its construction, a major boost for the local economy and in line with President Donald Trump’s vision of reviving the nation’s maritime industries.

Struggling shipbuilding

American shipbuilding has fallen far behind its rivals, with US-flagged vessels accounting for less than 1% of the global commercial fleet, compared to China’s nearly 60% share, according to business consultancy McKinsey.

“The commercial shipbuilding capacity and maritime workforce of the United States has been weakened by decades of government neglect, leading to the decline of a once strong industrial base,” Trump said in a 9 April executive order (EO), Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance.

“It is the policy of the United States to revitalise and rebuild domestic maritime industries and workforce to promote national security and economic prosperity,” the EO added.

Through this and other executive actions, the president has put his weight behind commercial and defence shipbuilding.

The Trump-backed Big Beautiful Budget Bill (BBB) includes more than $29bn for procurement of naval vessels, with another $5bn for shipyards to invest in technology and infrastructure. Another $24.6bn is granted to the Coast Guard for mission readiness.

At the same time he’s looking to rebuild US shipbuilding, though, Trump is also trying to kill a key market for its shipyards – offshore wind.

War on wind

Since former President Joe Biden launched the 30GW by 2030 goal, the US offshore wind sector has invested at least $1.8bn in newbuild and retrofitted vessels, according to industry advocacy group Oceantic Network. American Clean Power Association (ACP) puts this even higher, at $2.5bn.
Offshore wind has had an even more dramatic impact on coastal infrastructure, with Oceantic seeing over $5bn in investment in ports, while ACP estimates over $9bn.
“(Offshore wind) has given a breath of fresh air to shipbuilding in the US, especially in the Northeast,” Michael Burbelo, managing director of marine contractor American Offshore Services, told Recharge.
All of this is endangered by Trump’s hostility to the industry that he alternately blames for killing whales, causing cancer, and ruining coastal views.
Through executive fiat, Trump froze sector permitting and leasing and re-opened project approvals that are now subject to revised rules, stilling most activity.
Trump's “actions substantially damage US offshore wind for a period longer than the existing presidential term,” Philip Lewis, director of research at business consultancy Intelatus Global Partners told Recharge. “Wind will get no direct support in the US.”

The president has even gone after the few projects in construction, including Orsted’s Revolution Wind, 80% complete as of August when it was hit with a surprise stop-work order.

While a federal judge in Washington, DC allowed the project to resume, analysts are already warning that Trump could still undo Revolution, and the other four in construction.

Red state investment

Revolution, as part of Orsted’s trio of advanced arrays that includes the already operational 132MW South Fork as well as the 920MW Sunrise, both to New York sparked hundreds of millions in investment in US ports and vessels.

Orsted put down $100m for Connecticut marshalling hub New London State Pier and another $100m in Rhode Island ports.

The largesse is not limited to the largely Democratic Northeast states but has permeated throughout Republican-dominated industrial belts.

Orsted's $97m service operations vessel (SOV) Eco Edison, built in Louisiana by Edison Chouest, was christened in May by the wife of Republican House of Representatives majority leader Steve Scalise. The vessel is already operating as a floating residence for the crews building and operating Orsted's wind farms.
Edison Chouest also built the Eco Liberty SOV for Equinor’s Empire Wind. That project was likewise targeted by Trump for a 4-week shutdown before being allowed to proceed.
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock expects to take delivery of the repeatedly delayed, $200m rock installation vessel Acadia in construction by Philly Shipyards in Philadelphia later this year. The vessel is slated to work on both Equinor's and Orsted's US projects.

Upskilling US shipyards

Offshore wind didn’t just prompt orders for new vessels but advanced US shipbuilding technology and skills, Burbelo said.

The industry “introduced a higher level of outfitting and creature comforts for both the crew and passengers, promoting growth in US building and design,” he said.

Under Jones Act market protection, US yards have had little incentive to invest in capacity building or technology advancement. For offshore wind, however, American shipyards were forced to upgrade to global standards, leading to “workforce development where skills were previously lacking,” Burbelo said.

Overall, offshore wind has initiated “a beneficial shift towards higher quality vessels,” he added.

This success was hard won by the industry, with “a lot of lessons-learned regarding contract confidence and vessel build times,” said Burbelo.

The policy reversal by the Trump administration and collapse of orders means “advantages gained during consecutive vessel production and the retention of skilled labour will be lost in the current period of uncertainty.”

Trump’s heightened import controls and tariffs “will only add to cost and uncertainty in future project bids,” he added.

Not all shipbuilders regret the loss of offshore wind orders, with several telling Recharge that the industry’s quality standards and design differences led to cost overruns and headaches.

Strict deadlines and the need for scarce skilled labour sent costs skyward, and at least one shipyard claimed “nobody made money” in the sector.

These shipyards said they preferred to build simpler steel vessels for the military being promoted by the Trump administration.

For the vessels already delivered, including Charybdis, they will work in a much-diminished industry that will be lucky to reach 5.9GW by 2030.
Charybdis will be under contract installing CVOW's 176 Siemens Gamesa 14MW turbines through 2027, “but what other windfarms can she install?” asked Intelatus' Lewis.

“In the short/mid-term, she’ll likely have to support US O&M [operations and maintenance]. Who knows about the future at the moment!” he said.

(Copyright)

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Published 29 September 2025, 07:41Updated 8 October 2025, 12:50
AmericasUSDominion EnergyOrsted