New Bedford Terminal -Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight

New Bedford Ocean Terminal -Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

New Bedford Harbor & Jones Act Conflict Wind Turbine Installations

The Keystone pipeline project had an amendment to change any provisions of the 1920 Jones Act. The amendment was not considered .

This represents a major problem with the installation of commercial wind turbines.

The 1920 law called the Jones Act requires ships sailing between two US ports to be US-flagged.
If and when a foundation of an offshore turbine is laid it becomes a port. That’s the law.

Commercial ocean wind turbine installation and construction ships from Germany will not be able to dock in New Bedford or any other US port if they are doing construction. In other words only US flagged ships will be able to travel back and fourth between New Bedford and the newly installed wind turbines because the new turbine has become another new US port.

The New Bedford port is still facing major hurdles. The planning of the entire project appears to be taken out of the first page of a comic book.

The project wasn’t dredged correctly, an AM radio station needs to be moved, rail link still a mile away and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has refused to comment on a completion date costs and lease that may have been prematurely given to Cape Wind for $187,500.00 per month in September without knowing the final costs and completion date of the terminal.

The hurricane barrier at the entrance to New Bedford Harbor is 150 feet but it has never dawned on the public that the legal navigation regulations only allow boats with a beam of 120 feet through the gates. Aka the legal width of the entrance is only 120 feet.

The barges worldwide that are used to build commercial wind turbines are 127 feet wide or wider. These barges are called Jack Up barges and will not fit through the gates of New Bedford Harbor.

Please keep in mind that the ocean wind turbine port had already been built at Quonset Point, Rhode Island complete with cranes purchased with a 22.5 million dollar Tiger Grant years ago. Quonset Point has two ocean channels 1500 feet wide. Quonset Point can accommodate four aircraft carriers at a time.

The New Bedford ocean terminal was considered back in 2010 when commercial wind turbines were small and measured in kilowatts today the turbines are ten or twelve times the weight and height of the older model turbines today ocean turbines are above 6 megawatts each.

The New Bedford barge plan was called Governor Patrick’s ship of fools. The plan was and still is to build a $91 million mystery barge .The barge would be publicly funded at taxpayer expense and travel back and fourth between New Bedford Harbor and the new wind turbines bringing out parts one at a time to the large foreign Jack Up barges.

A small barge is being built called the RD MacDonald by a private company. Many have joked that the barge was named after the hamburger. No one knows the cost of the barge or how it will be paid for and used by a private contractor.

Today five years after the introduction of the heavier larger 6 megawatt type ocean wind turbines if the small barge is even capable of transporting the foundations or parts to these turbines that weight just under 350 tons

It appears today the entire New Bedford project was engineered by creators of comic strips.

The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight was a story about a mafia wanna be that couldn’t run a gas station even if he stole the cars.

The New Bedford ocean port story is funny but the taxpayers are into the project for 124 million and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center refuses any further comment on completion dates, finances or the ongoing lease with Cape Wind.

Well as Bugs Bunny used to say : “ That’s All Folks.”