Warren, Rhode Island-based boatbuilder Blount Boats has launched a new crewboat ordered by American Offshore Services (AOS), a partnership between Swedish offshore vessel operator the Northern Offshore Group and US-based investment firm OIC.
Gripper is a 100-foot (30.4-metre), Jones Act-compliant aluminium catamaran crewboat built to support Ørsted and Eversource's growing portfolio of offshore wind farms in the Northeastern United States. The vessel will be berthed at Ørsted's Operations Hub at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and will transport wind service technicians safely to projects at sea.
Gripper is one of five new crewboats that have been completed or are currently being built in Rhode Island for Ørsted and Eversource, and the first of two that will be owned and operated by AOS and built at Blount Boats.
The vessel will service Ørsted and Eversource's 704MW Revolution Wind project, Rhode Island's first large-scale offshore wind farm. It will also support the South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind projects in New York.