Shipbuilders, ports hit in assault on offshore wind
Trump's attacks on tech crate uncertain future
By: Nichola Groom
Reuters
..... U.S. shipbuilders and port operators are getting hit in the fallout from President Donald Trump's campaign to wipe out offshore wind industry, suffering hundreds of millions of dollars in lose government support, vanishing vessel orders and an uncertain future for the billions of dollars' worth of investment.
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The impact represents an unintended consequence of Trump's policy on the offshore wind industry, which had included stop-work orders and permit reviews for massive projects that were spurred by former Prescient 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.
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"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 representative, shipbuilders and trade groups who detailed the impact of Trump's policy moves targeting offshore wind.
..... The impact include more than $679 million worth of canceled Department of Transportation financing for ports to support offshore wind.
..... Meanwhile, orders for new offshore wind service vessels - designed to carry workers and huge turbines offshore or to la undersea cable - have also disappeared, according to trade group Oceantic Network, 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.
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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.
Big cancellation
..... Danish shipping giant Maersk canceled a $475 million contract earlier in October [2025] for 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 Empire Wind had been embroiled in Trump's opposition to offshore wind earlier this year [2025] when the administration issued a stop-work order that delayed its constructive for a month.
..... The ship's builders, Singapore-based Seatrium, said it was valeting its options for the vessel, which was nearly full built, and could take legal action.
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Offshore wind;s rise in the Northeast in recent years had fueled robust demand for many such vessels, including several built i U,s, shipyards or flying U.S. flags, according to Oceantic. 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. -flated wind turbine installation vessel, which is now working on Dominion Energy's coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
..... Louisiana's Edison Chouest also built two major offshore worker housing vessels for Equinor and Orsted projects currently under construction.
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But that work is drying up.
..... Offshore wind developers US Wind said in court documents field earlier in October [2025] it had been on track to secure specialized vessels for offshore wind instantiation, 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 constitution 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.
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Meanwhile, some existing vessels serving offshore wind are being sold off. Houston-based Seacor Marine announced in August [2025] it would sell two U. S.-flagged lifeboats - used on the Black Island and South Fork offshore wind farm - to Nigerian oil and gs service company JAD Construction for $76 million, citing delays and cancellations.
Ports reeling too
..... Oceantic estimated last year [2024] that more than two dozen U.S. ports were pursuing offshore wind projects. Many of those lost critical funding aft4e the DOT canceled 12 grants worth $679 million in august, [2025] 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, Massachusetts, 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 $467.7 million 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.