The subsea rock laying vessel Acadia came down the North River laden with stone as weather conditions deteriorated Tuesday afternoon. It was little over a week after I caught the brand-new ship making her debut voyage north. In the interim she had loaded something like 20,000 tons of stone at the Port of Coeymans, visible in the two open hoppers midship, and she was now headed to the Empire Wind worksite to deposit her cargo.

The change in displacement between her upbound and downbound voyages was visibly evident and her AIS reported displacement increased by about 10 feet after loading. By Wednesday morning, Acadia is at the Empire work site, in close proximity with the project’s ECO Liberty vessel, another new-build Jones Act compliant ship recently delivered for the project. When eventually complete, the Empire Wind project will deliver much-needed electricity directly to New York City’s grid.

We can expect to see Acadia regularly on the North River going forward as she travels north to collect more rock for the project and then heads back offshore.