The first-ever American-built, owned, and crewed offshore wind service operations vessel (SOV) was christened during a ceremony on Saturday in the Port of New Orleans.
Edison Chouest Offshore's (ECO) recently completed ECO Edison will play an integral part of the operation and maintenance of Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind, Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects as the U.S. offshore wind industry continues to ramp up in the U.S. Northeast.
Built at ECO in-house shipyards in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, the 262-foot long liveaboard SOV will serve as a floating, year-round homebase for 60 of the first American offshore wind turbine technicians, who will work at-sea over the life of the wind farms, servicing and maintaining the wind turbines.
ECO Edison is powered by two U.S. EPA Tier 4 certified Cat 3512E engines from Caterpillar Marine. The U.S.-flagged, Jones Act qualified vessel features a walk to work motion-compensated gangway that allows technicians to easily and safely access the wind turbines. A smaller daughter craft onboard can be deployed to efficiently maneuver crew across the wind farms.
“The Gulf Coast region is playing a huge role in the growing U.S. offshore wind supply chain, using their decades of experience to deliver more homegrown American energy and serving as one example of Ørsted’s more than $20 billion of investments into the United States,” said David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted. “Thank you to Edison Chouest for delivering this milestone – building the first American-made service operations vessel. Our team can’t wait to put her in service, with state-of-the-art safety technologies and features to ensure comfort at sea.”
“We’re incredibly proud that our shipyards, engineers and more than 600 shipbuilders have now delivered a U.S.-first vessel that will support offshore wind energy for years to come for our trusted partners at Ørsted,” said Gary Chouest, President of Edison Chouest Offshore. “Just as several of our vessels supported the construction of the first utility-scale offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind Farm, so too will the ECO Edison lead the way as this first-ever American-made offshore wind SOV.”