/Reuters Agency
U.S. shipyards and port operators are suffering the consequences of President Donald Trump’s campaign to eliminate the offshore wind energy industry, facing losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in government support, cancellation of ship orders, and an uncertain future for investments.
This impact represents an unintended effect of Trump’s policy towards offshore wind energy, which has included orders to stop work and reviews of permits for large-scale initiatives driven by former President Joe Biden’s green investment policy.
Trump describes offshore wind energy as an unsightly and inefficient technology that harms whales and birds. However, he is also a fervent supporter of U.S. maritime industries, which he considers fundamental in the global competition for trade and military supremacy at sea.
“His argument is counterproductive,” stated Joe Orgeron, a Republican state representative from Louisiana and former owner of an offshore vessel company, who noted that the offshore wind industry was responsible for numerous ship orders in recent years.
“All of that stopped suddenly, unfortunately,” he remarked.
Reuters interviewed 13 port representatives, shipbuilders, and trade groups who detailed the collateral impacts of Trump’s policy measures against offshore wind energy.
The impacts include the cancellation of more than $679 million in Department of Transportation funding destined for ports to support offshore wind energy, among them a $34 million grant for a facility in Salem, Massachusetts, that was expected to generate $75 million in tax revenue over 20 years and create 800 jobs.
Meanwhile, orders for new offshore wind service vessels – designed to transport workers and enormous offshore turbines or to install underwater cables – have also dried up, according to the trade group Oceantic, after an active 2024 in which at least 10 U.S.-built vessels for that purpose were launched.
Existing units are also being sold or considered for redeployment to other regions of the world, according to the report.
The Trump administration claimed it can revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding and port industry, which has suffered for years from rising costs and a lack of government support, without relying on backing for offshore wind energy.
“This administration will restore America’s maritime supremacy by modernizing our ports and expanding our shipbuilding capacity to compete with communist China,” the U.S. Department of Transportation stated to Reuters.
“We are also doing it in the fastest and most cost-effective way possible, two attributes completely absent in offshore wind energy manufacturing,” it added.
Cancellation
Maersk canceled a $475 million contract this month to build a vessel specifically designed to install enormous turbines for the Empire Wind project off the coast of New York, highlighting the drop in demand for this type of ship.
Empire Wind, from the company Equinor, became embroiled earlier this year in Trump’s opposition to offshore wind energy, when the administration issued a stop-work order that delayed its construction for a month.
The ship’s builder, Singapore-based Seatrium, stated that it is evaluating its options for the vessel – almost completely built – and that it could take legal action.
The boom in offshore wind energy in the U.S. Northeast in recent years had driven strong demand for this type of vessel, including several built in U.S. shipyards or flagged in that country, according to the trade group Oceantic Network.
The organization estimates that the sector has attracted a total of $5.1 billion in port investments and $1.8 billion in vessel orders.
Among the built vessels, the Charybdis, valued at $715 million, stands out, the only U.S.-flagged vessel designed to install wind turbines, which is currently working on Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
The Louisiana-based company Edison Chouest also built two offshore worker accommodation units destined for Equinor and Orsted projects that are still under construction.
However, that work is running out.
The developer US Wind stated in court documents filed this month that it was on track to secure specialized vessels for the installation of offshore wind turbines, but the Trump administration’s efforts to stop its project in Maryland disrupted that progress.
These vessels are scarce and are reserved years in advance, so they require early action to meet construction deadlines.
Rhode Island’s Blount Boats, which began building offshore wind crew transfer vessels in 2016, announced it has completely ceased that activity.
“We’ve moved on. There are no contracts for those boats, and it’s simply because the Trump administration has closed that path,” commented Executive Vice President Julie Blount.
Meanwhile, some existing vessels are being sold. Houston-based Seacor Marine announced in August that it would sell two U.S.-flagged liftboats – used in the Block Island and South Fork offshore wind farms – to the Nigerian company JAD Construction for $76 million, citing delays and cancellations.
Other vessels face an uncertain future. The Acadia, valued at $200 million and the first U.S. unit for rock installation, will likely work overseas after completing assignments for Equinor and Orsted, according to Bill Hanson of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. The company has no plans to build more offshore wind vessels.
Ports also waver
Oceantic estimated last year that more than two dozen U.S. ports were developing projects related to offshore wind energy. Many of them lost critical funding when the Department of Transportation canceled 12 grants totaling $679 million in August, affecting projects in states such as Massachusetts, New York, California, Maryland, and Virginia.
“It is realistic to look at the current landscape and see that this industry will face major challenges under the current administration,” said Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo, whose city is struggling to move forward with its port project after the funding cancellation.
In Northern California, the Humboldt Bay offshore wind port, which lost $426.7 million (the majority of the canceled funding), is expected to be delayed by about five years, until at least 2035, according to Chris Mikkelsen, executive director of the Humboldt Bay harbor district. The project hopes to access funds from a state climate bond to offset the loss of federal money.
In Norfolk, Virginia, the developer of a maritime logistics terminal that lost a $39 million grant submitted a revised proposal that shifts the project’s focus away from offshore wind energy to align with the administration’s priorities, according to city economic development officials.
Some port projects are still moving forward.
Equinor’s South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, which will support its Empire Wind project, is 70% complete and has employed about 3,000 workers, according to a company spokesperson.
In Maryland, US Wind says it is maintaining its plan for a coastal steel manufacturing facility that could serve the shipbuilding and energy industries, despite the cancellation of a $47.4 million port grant and the administration’s plans to revoke the permit for its offshore wind project.
However, US Wind also warned in court documents that it could face bankruptcy if its project is canceled.
Jim Strong of the United Steelworkers union, which has an agreement to supply workers to the US Wind facility, said he is optimistic that Trump will recognize how investments in offshore wind energy can benefit industries he cares about.
“He showed a great passion in his campaigns when talking about steel. I want to believe that, once the story is known, there could be a change in stance,” Strong commented about Trump.
