by WorldTribune Staff, October 25, 2026 — Real World News
Safety concerns regarding offshore wind infrastructure are being revisited after the discovery of a fishing vessel which sank near the base of a Rhode Island wind turbine.
The discovery of the commercial fishing vessel F/V Mistress, which sank in January 2019 just 50 feet from the base of turbine No. 1 at the Block Island Wind Farm, has triggered calls for a federal investigation into the wind farm’s operator, Orsted.
On Jan. 1, 2019, the 52-foot wooden-hulled trawler sank during a winter storm while inbound to Point Judith, Rhode Island. Captain Oscar Diaz and his nephew John Ansay Jr. died in the tragedy; a third crew member survived.
John Ansay, whose son, John Ansay Jr. went down with the Mistress two days after his 31st birthday, wants the Coast Guard to reopen the investigation into the missing vessel so that the bones discovered at the wreck can be retrieved and positively identified.
In late August and September 2026, the Rhode Island-based nonprofit advocacy group Green Oceans documented the wreck using sidescan sonar and scientific divers. The vessel rests in about 92 feet of water, only 50 feet away from the base of the Block Island Wind Farm’s easternmost turbine. Apparent human remains were also identified at the site.
Coast Guard records from 2019 indicate that a MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter mission was forced to abort a nighttime rescue attempt due to severe weather and hazards posed by the wind farm, including radar “ghost images” and rotating turbine blades.
Critics have questioned how the wreck could remain undetected for over seven years given subsequent underwater maintenance and barge operations performed near the turbine by operator Orsted. Reports indicate that federal entities including the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Interior have faced calls to investigate whether the company concealed knowledge of the wreckage.
Families of the lost fishermen are petitioning authorities to recover the remains for proper identification via DNA analysis and to reopen the maritime accident review.
Fishing and anti-wind advocacy groups argue that closely spaced commercial turbines create an unacceptable hazard for search-and-rescue operations and navigation.
An environmental group suing to block Orsted wind farms and other offshore wind projects is convinced Orsted discovered the location of the wreck next to one of its turbines long ago but did not report it.
“They had a maintenance barge, and they were working on it, and they had divers on it,” said Ben Riggs, a retired Navy captain, aviator and leader in the environmental group Green Oceans. “For them not to know that’s where it went down is very hard to believe.”
The Trump Administration opposes offshore wind and has moved to halt new projects. It recently pledged nearly $4 billion in lease buybacks to encourage companies to abandon plans for offshore wind farms.
Democrat-led states are pushing forward with the projects and sued the administration this month over the lease buyback program. They argue that offshore wind provides critically needed power to the electrical grid and reduces reliance on fossil fuels that contribute to pollution and “climate change.”
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