The US federal government continues to issue rulings related to the Jones Act and the country's emerging offshore wind industry.

In a 20 October ruling, the US Coast Guard ruled Rhode Island's Blount Boats could incorporate unlimited amounts of aluminium planks produced outside the US in the construction of crew transfer vessels to service offshore wind farms.

"This is the first guidance issued on the construction of many offshore support vessels expected to be needed to construct and maintain thousands of power generating wind turbines intended to be installed eventually off all US coasts," Winston & Strawn partners Charlie Papavizas and Bryant Gardner wrote in a note on the ruling.

To carry cargoes between two points in the US, a ship must be US-flagged, requiring it to be built, owned and crewed in the US.

Given the premium to build in the US, the number of commercial ships constructed in the US has been relatively small in recent years, but President Joe Biden's goal of generating 30 GW of energy using offshore wind farms has provided an opportunity for US shipyards.

Estimates from ABS suggest as many as 38 new ships will need to be built to support the efforts, but questions remain about cost, project timelines and regulatory issues.

In the Blount Boats ruling, the Coast Guard said the planks described fit the description of standard stock foreign metal allowed to be used so long as it is delivered to a US shipyard of fabrication ship "without having been further worked".

Joining those plates together, however, constitutes fabrication abroad, as it would make up an integral part of the ships' hull. The Coast Guard ruled that those panels should be assembled in the US.

In December 2019, Blount announced an agreement to build two specialised versions of the Chartwell 24 crew transfer vessels developed by Chartwell Marine for Atlantic Wind Transfers.

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The company had previously constructed the first US-built crew transfer vessel, the Atlantic Pioneer, for Atlantic Wind Transfers.

The Blount Boats ruling follows the US Customs and Border Patrol decision in August allowing the partial use of foreign vessels in the construction of a floating offshore wind farm in Maine.