US President Joe Biden is pressing for a sweeping build-out of wind power in the country's waters.
But could Washington do more to support providing the Jones Act-qualified vessels that these projects will need to get off the ground?
While government officials have recognised the need for port funding, experts in domestic shipping said the wind vessel sector could get a boost from expansion of a government loan programme for Jones Act ships, with a special focus on renewables.
The Federal Ship Financing Program provides government guarantees on mortgages of vessels that qualify for the cabotage law, which requires shipping between US points to take place on American-built vessels.
But Congress has not added funding to the programme — known in Jones Act circles as Title XI — for years. And officials have not publicly highlighted ship finance in the push for offshore wind.
"It's disappointing to me that more members of Congress and the administration are not looking to it for this purpose," said Joan Bondareff, a Washington DC-based maritime attorney at law firm Blank Rome.
As of April, there was just $35.4m of funds in the Title XI kitty, according to data from the US Maritime Administration (MarAd).
More than just new money
The agency, which runs the programme, said that could provide guarantees for $487m in loans to build Jones Act ships — less than the cost of one wind turbine installation vessel at a US shipyard.
And Congress has not allocated new money to the fund since the 2018 fiscal year, the MarAd data shows.
But US-flag shipping experts told TradeWinds that backing finance for Jones Act ships requires more than just new money in the programme.
Shipowners entering the wind vessel sector would also benefit from streamlining of an application process that is currently cumbersome, and a programme that is focused on the needs of the renewables industry.
Charlie Papavizas, a maritime lawyer at Winston & Strawn, said government funding makes sense when a new industry is getting started.
"It makes, of course, a lot less sense once an industry gets up off the ground, because private capital should fill the needs," he said.
