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ARTICLE · 13 APRIL 2023

CBP Issues Ruling On Offshore Wind Electrical Cable Installation

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently held that a foreign flagged vessel could install electric transmission cables without violating the coastwise laws.

United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently held that a foreign flagged vessel could install electric transmission cables without violating the coastwise laws. This decision reflects a growing body of CBP rulings that address whether a Jones Act compliant vessel is required for specific aspects of an offshore wind project.

Certain offshore activities require a Jones Act qualified vessel, which means that the vessel must meet stringent US-built, US-ownership and crewing requirements that are required to receive a coastwise endorsement from the US Coast Guard. CBP's Headquarters Ruling H329630 (March 9, 2023) addressed whether a non-coastwise-qualified cable-lay vessel (CLV) and a non-coastwise-qualified trencher support vessel (TSV) could be used to lay and bury electrical transmission cables on the seabed of US territorial waters and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that would connect wind turbines on the OCS and offshore substations.

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