Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A new business touted as the first independently black-owned, deep-water facility and manufacturing site is making Pleasure Island its home.

Harry and Paulette Crawford recently announced their intent to build Diligence Offshore Services LLC.

“The core service is to provide an innovative clean energy supply chain support system,” Harry Crawford said.

The company will provide a number of services from warehousing parts to renewable fuel sales, berthing, lading/discharging services, offshore vessel services to the fields and more.

Diligence is expected to become operational by the first quarter of 2026.

Crawford made note of two executive orders delivered by President Joe Biden; Executive Order 13985 called Advancing Racial Equality and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government and Executive Order 14008, which deals with tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad.

The Crawfords chose Port Arthur for the project for several reasons, the first being location.

According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, one of the potential wind energy areas is approximately 24 nautical miles off the coast of Galveston, a second site is approximately 56 nautical miles off the cast of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Port Arthur is in close proximately to the Gulf of Mexico and offers a clear shot from Pleasure Island to the offshore waters without the hindrance of bridges, Crawford said.

“These wind farm turbines can get really tall, the equipment is big,” Crawford said. “There are no bridges to go under.”

Crawford said they will have a second location in Cameron, Louisiana, to be used as an offshore wind integration facility — an area where the parts will be brought and assembled with heavy lifts.

To make all of this work, there is a sustainability team, he said.

Team, timeline

Harry Crawford, who grew up in the Alvin area, is the managing member of Diligence Offshore Service. He has more than 20 years experience in the oil and gas field, he said.

Paulette Crawford, who is from Beaumont, is co-chair of the executive committee and executive vice-president of the company. She has 20 years experience as a chemical engineer, he added.

Chief Operations Officer is Felix Meboka, an offshore marine operations specialist based in Germany.

Crawford said they are looking at groundbreaking in the first week of December, have taken care of engineering studies and already have a dredging permit.

The company is also working with Grace Hub, a nonprofit, to get locals trained for these jobs.