Procurement begins for SOV for largest US offshore windfarm 

Bigger batteries

However, the design is being future proofed, allowing for potential battery upgrades. “It is designed to be ready for much larger capacity batteries up to 25 MWh, if that was ever decided,” says Mr Slater. This means larger spaces for battery storage and switchboards and more ventilation capacity have been designed into the vessel to allow for a future upgrade.

Mr Slater notes the SOV will not be dual fuel because of uncertainty around the availability of alternative fuels, such as methanol or hydrogen, in the US. “Our experience is that owners are not making that decision yet for those fuels,” he says, adding, “Other than LNG dual-fuel or batteries, recognising that LNG is still a transition fuel.”

To reduce fuel consumption and improve environmental performance, the SOV will be fitted with Siemens Blue Drive PlusC technology. The system allows independent control of each generator, diesel engine, propeller and thruster. Additionally, it allows the use of battery power to reduce engine running time and provide fuel savings and reduced GHG emissions.

A key component of the BlueDrive PlusC propulsion system is its variable-speed gensets. These generators are purpose-built, brushless and synchronous, and can deliver a wide range of frequencies and voltage for vessels. As explained by Siemens, BlueDrive PlusC controls the engines to achieve optimal speed set points based on torque capability and the most efficient fuel consumption.

Dynamic positioning class-2-capable, the SOV will have two Z-drives, two drop-down bow thrusters and a single tunnel thruster.

“We want to double our workforce over the next 18 months”

Like most shipbuilding projects, lead times for equipment and components are longer than they once were, but the supply chain challenges have not been detrimental to the project “because we have a longer design window,” says Mr Slater. Engine lead times, for example, are about 60 weeks, up from 30 weeks. “It is something we are cognisant of in planning the project,” he says.

Another risk has been inflation, which has driven prices higher for steel and equipment. While Mr Slater observes that steel prices have fallen, he does not anticipate prices for equipment will follow suit.

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding anticipates cutting steel in September or October of this year, with delivery slated for 2025, and operation at Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project in 2026. Some 43 km off the coast of Virginia Beach, the CVOW project will be the largest in the US yet, with a capacity of 2.6 GW, including 176 wind turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa.

SOVs, along with the LNG bunker business, are core focusses of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding’s business. Mr Slater says: “We want to double our workforce over the next 18 months [to about 1,000 production workers].” This workforce level will temporarily increase to 1,500 during the Great Lakes vessel winter repair season.

In the LNG market, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding has built the largest capacity LNG bunker barge in the US, the 5,500-m3 ocean tank barge Clean Canaveral, which is operating out of Port Canaveral, Florida; it is constructing a sister vessel for the owner for Polaris New Energy. Additionally, the Wisconsin shipbuilder is constructing a 12,000-m3 LNG bunker barge for Crowley, which will be delivered later this year into a long-term charter to Shell NA LNG.

Part of the Fincantieri Marine Group, which includes Fincantieri Marinette Marine and Fincantieri ACE Marine, all based on the Great Lakes in Wisconsin, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding delivered Mark W Barker, the first bulk carrier built for the Great Lakes in three decades, in July 2022 to owner Interlake Maritime Services.