Offshore staff
CUT OFF, Louisiana – Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO), Ørsted, and Eversource have executed a long-term charter agreement for the first US-flagged Jones Act compliant service operations vessel (SOV).
The SOV will be engineered, constructed, and operated by ECO as part of the operation and maintenance of the Revolution Wind, South Fork Wind, and Sunrise Wind offshore wind farms in the northeast US. These projects are dependent on obtaining the necessary federal permits from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The SOV will be used during the operation and maintenance phases of the wind farm projects, serving as an at sea base of operations to accommodate and transfer technicians, tools and parts to and from the individual wind turbine generators.
According to ECO, this vessel is a special-purpose design with focus on passenger comfort and safety, enhanced maneuverability and ship motions, extended offshore endurance, and reduced emissions.
It will be built at a combination of Edison Chouest’s shipyards in Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana, creating more than 300 construction jobs. The vessel will operate from New York once in operation.
The more than 260-ft (79-m) long vessel is expected to have accommodations for 60 people. It will also feature passenger staterooms with private bathrooms, an exercise room, cinema/training room, internet café and multiple lounges.
The SOV will include a below deck warehouse to palletize storage for wind farm tools, components and supplies with step-less access to an elevator. A daughter craft, with associated launch and recovery system and hydraulic height-compensating landing platform, will also be installed for infield turbine repair operations.
The vessel will operate on diesel electric power that meets EPA Tier 4 emission standards and will feature proprietary ECO variable frequency drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Gary Chouest, president of ECO, said: “There is an unprecedented opportunity, with 12 offshore wind projects planned, an additional 10 offshore wind leases signed, and another six wind leases awaiting award. In aggregate, there is a pipeline of well over 25,000 megawatts of power to be produced by over 1,700 wind turbines, across 13 states, and in various stages of development that will require an incredible array of vessels, resources, knowledge, and capital commitment to install, operate, and repair.”
10/01/2020
