Bremerton, Wash.-based boat builder SAFE Boats International has reached a formal partnership agreement with United Kingdom-based ship builder Diverse Marine to bring Diverse Marine’s Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) designs and experience to the U.S. offshore wind market.
This new arrangement comes after SAFE Boats having worked with Diverse Marine promoting SAFE Boat designs in European markets the past three years.
“In support of the Biden Administration’s call to build a clean energy economy, the domestic offshore wind market is burgeoning with rapid approvals primarily in the northeast,” SAFE Boats stated in its late August announcement. “This commitment was emphasized in May with the administration’s final approval of Vineyard Wind, the first U.S. industrial-scale offshore wind project.”
SAFE Boats and Diverse have said that through this partnership, they’ll continue their collaboration in pursuit of emerging offshore wind vessel opportunities.
“Under the agreement, we will share our designs and lend marketing and production support to SAFE Boats for construction principally of offshore wind crew transfer vessels but can be extended to any vessel on our portfolio,” Diverse Marine Director Ben Colman explained.
“We have worked with SAFE Boats for a number of years now in the UK and have established a strong relationship in many sectors,” he continued. “Our hope is (that) we can share our experience to reduce the first of class production costs for CTVs in the emerging American market.”
“The signing of this partnership agreement is an exciting step in our drive to bring class-leading designs and industry expertise to US offshore wind,” SAFE Boats CEO Richard Schwarz said. “SAFE Boats and Diverse Marine both have long histories of delivering robust, reliable solutions for government and commercial customers around the globe.”
“This agreement now brings the complementary experience of our two industry-leading companies to the emerging U.S. offshore wind market,” he added. “Our combined experience and shared values create a unique opportunity to bring Diverse Marine’s proven CTV designs and experience to the U.S. This agreement is the next step in our ongoing relationship with Diverse Marine and a continuation of our efforts to partner with leading designers and builders around the world.”