*

Orders for new US offshore wind vessels have stopped

*

Ports adjust plans, face delays after federal funding

losses

*

Trump administration says it can revive US maritime

industries

without offshore wind

By Nichola Groom

Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. shipbuilders and port operators

are getting hit in the fallout from President Donald Trump's

campaign to wipe out the offshore wind industry, suffering

hundreds of millions of dollars in lost government support,

vanishing vessel orders, and an uncertain future for the

billions of dollars' worth of investments.

The impact represents an unintended consequence of Trump's

policy on the offshore wind industry, which has included

stop-work orders and permit reviews for massive projects that

were spurred by former President Joe Biden's green investment

policy.

Trump calls offshore wind an unsightly and inefficient

technology that harms whales and birds. But he is also a huge

supporter of U.S. maritime industries that he views as crucial

in the global competition for trade and military dominance of

the high seas.

"He has a counterproductive argument," said Joe Orgeron, a

Republican Louisiana state representative and former offshore

vessel business owner, who pointed out the offshore wind

industry was responsible for many ship orders in recent years.

"That all came to a sudden halt, unfortunately."

Reuters interviewed 13 port representatives, shipbuilders

and trade groups who detailed the knock-on impacts of Trump's

policy moves targeting offshore wind, the details of which are

reported here for the first time.

The impacts include more than $679 million worth of canceled

Department of Transportation financing for ports to support

offshore wind, including 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 carry workers and huge turbines offshore or to lay

undersea cable - have also disappeared, according to trade group

Oceantic, following a busy 2024 that saw the launch of at least

10 U.S. vessels built to serve offshore wind.

Existing vessels are also being sold off, or considered for

redeployment to other global regions, according to the

reporting.

The Trump administration said it can revive the U.S.

shipbuilding and port industry, which has suffered from years of

cost-inflation and a dearth of government support, without

offshore wind's support.

"This administration will restore America's maritime

dominance by modernizing our ports and expanding our

shipbuilding capacities to compete with communist China," the

U.S. Department of Transportation told Reuters.

"We're also doing it as quickly and cost-effectively as

possible- two attributes completely absent in offshore wind

manufacturing."

BIG CANCELLATION

Danish shipping giant Maersk canceled a $475

million contract earlier this month for a ship that was custom

designed to install massive turbines at the Empire Wind power

project off the coast of New York, laying bare the downturn in

vessel demand.

Equinor's ( EQNR ) Empire Wind had been embroiled in

Trump's opposition to offshore wind earlier this year when the

administration issued a stop-work order that delayed its

construction for a month.

The ship's builder, Singapore-based Seatrium, said

it was evaluating its options for the vessel, which was nearly

fully built, and could take legal action.

Offshore wind's rise in the Northeast in recent years had

fueled robust demand for many such vessels, including several

built in U.S. shipyards or flying U.S. flags, according to trade

group Oceantic Network. It said the sector cumulatively has

attracted $5.1 billion in port investments and $1.8 billion in

vessel orders.

Among the vessels built is the $715 million Charybdis, the

only U.S.-flagged wind turbine installation vessel, which is now

working on Dominion Energy's ( D ) Coastal Virginia Offshore

Wind project.

Louisiana's Edison Chouest also built two major offshore

worker housing vessels for Equinor ( EQNR ) and Orsted

projects currently under construction.

But that work is drying up.

Offshore wind developer US Wind said in court documents

filed this month it had been on track to secure specialized

vessels for offshore wind installation, but the Trump

administration's efforts to stop its Maryland project had

disrupted that progress.

Such vessels are scarce and booked years in advance,

requiring early action to meet construction timelines, the

company said.

Rhode Island's Blount Boats, which began building crew

transfer vessels for offshore wind in 2016, said it has stopped

completely.

"We've moved on," said Executive Vice President Julie

Blount. "There are no contracts for those boats, and it's simply

because the Trump administration has closed that down."

Meanwhile, some existing vessels serving offshore wind are

being sold off.

Houston-based Seacor Marine ( SMHI ) announced in August it

would sell two U.S.-flagged liftboats - used on the Block Island

and South Fork offshore wind farms - to Nigerian oil and gas

services company JAD Construction for $76 million, citing delays

and cancellations.

Seacor did not respond to a request for comment.

Other ships face uncertain futures. The $200 million Acadia,

America's first rock installation vessel, will likely work

overseas after completing jobs for Equinor ( EQNR ) and Orsted, said Bill

Hanson of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. ( GLDD )

The company has no plans for more offshore wind vessels.

PORTS REELING TOO

Oceantic estimated last year that more than two dozen U.S.

ports were pursuing offshore wind projects. Many of those lost

critical funding after the DOT canceled 12 grants worth $679

million in August, hitting projects in states including

Massachusetts, New York, California, Maryland, and Virginia.

"It's realistic to look at the current landscape and see

that this industry is going to be deeply challenged by the

current administration," said Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo,

whose city's port project is struggling after a funding

cancellation.

In Northern California, the Humboldt Bay offshore wind port

that lost $426.7 million - the bulk of the canceled DOT funding

- is expected to be delayed by about five years to at least

2035, according to Chris Mikkelsen, executive director of the

Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District.

The project is hoping to be able to tap funds from a state

climate bond to make up for the lost federal money.

In Norfolk, Virginia, the developer of a marine logistics

terminal that lost a $39 million DOT grant submitted a revised

proposal refocusing the project away from offshore wind to align

with the administration's priorities, city economic development

officials told Reuters.

Some port projects are still underway. Equinor's ( EQNR ) 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 sticking with its plan for a

shoreline steel manufacturing facility that could serve the

shipbuilding and energy industries despite both the cancellation

of a $47.4 million port grant and the administration's plans to

revoke the permit for its offshore wind project. But US Wind has

also warned in court documents that it could face bankruptcy if

its project is canceled.

Jim Strong of the United Steelworkers union, which has a

deal to supply workers for US Wind's facility, said he was

optimistic that Trump would see how investments in offshore wind

can reverberate through industries that he cares about.

"He showed a tremendous amount of passion in his campaigns

in talking about steel," Strong said of Trump. "I want to

believe that once the story is out there, that there could be a

change of positions."

(Additional reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing

by Richard Valdmanis and Marguerita Choy)