Houston-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp., the largest provider of dredging services in the United States, hosted President Joe Biden at its recent steel-cutting ceremony, held to inaugurate the first cut of steel for the construction of the Acadia, the 133-year-old company’s first offshore wind rock-placement vessel. The steel cutting event occurred at Philly Shipyard Inc., in Philadelphia.
In 2021, the Biden administration announced the goal of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and provided $3 billion in federal loan guarantees for offshore wind projects. The Acadia represents Great Lakes’ entry into the U.S. offshore wind market, which supports this key initiative.
The vessel is designed to hold up to 20,000 metric tons of rock that it will strategically deposit at the ocean bottom, laying a foundation for the monopiles that serve as the support structure for offshore wind turbines.
Lasse Petterson, Great Lakes’ president and CEO, and Steinar Nerbovik, Philly Shipyard’s president and CEO, joined Biden at the occasion, thanking him for his attendance and for his unwavering support of the U.S. offshore wind market.
“We are pleased to get construction started as Great Lakes has already won contracts for this Jones Act-compliant vessel,” says Petterson. “The Acadia will provide employment for U.S. union crews – at the steel mills producing the steel for the vessel, at the quarries producing the rock, at the ports and facilities loading our vessel and for the marine crews operating the vessel.
“This market will continue to grow,” adds Peterson, “and we are pleased to be one of the leaders in the U.S. maritime industry investing in offshore wind.”
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., offshore wind developers, union representatives, industry manufacturers, vessel owners, contractors and aligned vendors also attended the ceremony.
