Federal Court Lets Foreign Ships Move US Rock to US Offshore Wind Farms

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has lost its appeal to reverse a Customs and Border Protection ruling that allows foreign rock-dumping vessels to compete more easily for U.S. offshore wind farm contracts. The U.S. 5th Circuit ruled that GLDD’s suit was speculative, finding that the harm to GLDD’s business interests had not yet occurred.  

CBP ruled in January 2021 that foreign-flagged vessels could not be used to dump U.S. rock onto the U.S. continental shelf: the rock originated at a U.S. point, and would be deposited at a U.S. point on the OCS. Two months later, after a request from the American Petroleum Institute, CBP reversed itself and ruled that foreign-flagged vessels could dump the first layer of scour protection…