Blue Ocean Transfers: A New Jones Act CTV Player Emerges

There's a new player in the Jones Act crew transfer vessel (CTV) market: Blue Ocean Transfers (BOT), based on Long Island, N.Y.

The McQuilling-Partners-owned company is planning to build a fleet of CTVs to support the U.S. offshore wind industry as it ramps up to meet the Biden administration's goal of 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030. 

"BOT is a marine logistics equipment manager, whose equipment is chartered and deployed by wind field developers and their suppliers," the company said in a statement. "The BOT business model leverages the specific knowledge, experience and skills of different organizations. It brings together targeted expertise in capital deployment, financing, ship construction, vessel management and commercial employment and is designed to ensure scalability to support a growing CTV market while providing competitive hire rates to charterers on safe, reliable and modern crew transfer vessels."

Used for ferrying personnel and light equipment to and from offshore wind farms, CTVs are among the Jones-Act-compliant vessels needed to build and service the pipeline of new U.S. offshore wind projects. Currently, there are only a handful of U.S.-flagged CTVs in operation, with about two dozen known to be on order at American shipyards.

Houston-based SEACOR Marine, an established operator of offshore vessels, will provide technical and operational management of BOT's CTV fleet under a ship management contract.

According to the BOT website, its fleet will initially be comprised of 27- and 31-meter aluminum catamaran newbuilds designed by Incat Crowther.

Representatives from Blue Ocean Transfers could not immediately be reached for comment on vessel orders and potential builders. However, shipbuilders listed under the "collaborators" section of the BOT site include Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding in Somerset, Mass., Gulf Craft Marine in Franklin, La. and St. Johns Ship Building in Palatka, Fla.