ECO marks milestone in construction of first US-flag SOV

ECO, one of the largest offshore support vessel owners in the world, reported the news in a social media post. The Louisiana vessel owner reported US House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Lousiana) along with representatives from Ørsted and Eversource Energy were on hand for the occasion held at the LaShip facility in Houma, Louisiana.

“We’re proud to put our expertise to work on such an important vessel for the offshore wind industry’s future American fleet,” said ECO president and chief executive Gary Chouest. “Thanks to our decades of experience in offshore industries, our inhouse engineers, and the hard work of more than 400 of our shipbuilders, we’re now more than 50% complete on this historic, specialised vessel that will serve as a model for the US offshore wind industry and a home base for American offshore wind technicians for years to come.”

Ørsted and Eversource are building South Fork Wind, New York’s first offshore windfarm, which broke ground in early 2022 and will be operational with 130 MW in 2023, and Sunrise Wind, a 924-MW project that will deliver clean energy to New York in late 2025.

Ørsted and Eversource have chartered the SOV for use during the operation and maintenance (O&M) phases of the Revolution Wind, South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind projects, serving as an at-sea base of operations to accommodate and transfer technicians, tools and parts safely to and from the individual wind turbines.

Built to ABS class, the Jones Act-compliant 80-m SOV will accommodate up to 60 wind turbine technicians, have diesel-electric power to meet EPA Tier 4 standards and have ECO variable frequency drive technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel consumption.

Once delivered in 2024, ECO Edison will be based at its homeport in Port Jefferson, New York.