Plymouth Wind Turbine Mystery Over Cargo Boat Deepens

New Bedford: Mystery Deepens Over Wind Turbine Cargo Ship

Massive wind turbines headed to Plymouth 

What went wrong with the delivery of the wind turbines ? How could this many people keep a political embarrassment this big secret ?

New Bedford, Massachusetts

July 14, 2015

On July 6, 2015 New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, civic leaders and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center were on scene last Monday at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal. They were there to greet the cargo ship MV Thorco Svendborg literally carrying 4 massive wind turbines.

The Hong Kong-based MV Thorco Svendborg was reported to be delivering turbine components to New Bedford for the largest yet ever land-based wind farm in Plymouth. The Plymouth wind farm will consist of four massive Gamesa G97 turbines. The turbines are 25 percent larger than the Fairhaven and Falmouth wind turbines and have a rating of 2 megawatts. The largest to ever be installed in Massachusetts.The turbines are scheduled to move from the New Bedford Port down Route 6 to Plymouth starting on July 26, 2015 at night.

There was one picture in a local paper of two small token wind turbine parts siting on the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.The public wants to know : How is our money being spent ? Where are the pictures of the rest of the turbines ? The question is where are the mono poles, gear boxes and blades ? Was the wind turbine delivery another financial fiasco in a long string of tens of millions of dollars in mistakes ?

The New Bedford Harbor Development Commission was asked where the parts are. They responded that they are covered up in a secure location in the terminal and the public has no access.

The general public can only guess that the news media didn’t take any pictures of the massive blades and poles to hold up the turbines unlikely ! The local press in New Bedford gave up a photo opportunity to show off the massive wind turbines again unlikely. More likely they didn’t get delivered.

What went wrong is the question the public should be asking. Why didn’t the wind turbines get delivered ? Are they going to Providence, Rhode Island because the turbines won’t fit through the narrow densely streets of New Bedford ? Are the cranes too small at the New Bedford Port ?

What is the truth ?

The MV Thorco Svendborg left New Bedford on July 9, 2015.

Since July 9, 2015 the MV Thorco Svendborg has remained anchored for a week about 20 miles South of Providence, Rhode Island. Why would a 400 foot cargo ship sit anchored all this time ? Who is paying the cargo company ?

The incomplete New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal sits at 113 million plus dollars with no large 600 ton walking (crawler) cranes and no rail link to the ongoing financial fiasco. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center will only say the terminal is going into phase two. The terminal was estimated to cost 35 million in 2010.

The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal with only a legal opening at the hurricane gates of 120 feet is a political embarrassment. Wind turbine jack-up barges worldwide generally run 127 feet or wider.

The taxpayers in Massachusetts want to know what is going on at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal ?