Towering ship for wind energy boom takes shape in the heart of Louisiana’s oil industry

Constructing the Eco has employed more than 220 people at the 600-employee LaSafe shipyard on the Houma Navigation Canal. Edison Chouest wouldn’t give an exact dollar figure, but Clemons estimated that the ship cost “many tens of millions” to build.

“This is an amazing advancement,” said U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, after touring the shipyard on Tuesday. “Wind is the newest form of energy we will dominate. We need to open more of it.”

The ship is designed with egg beater-like propulsion units that allow it to ease up to turbines and then deploy a gangway that automatically adjusts itself to the rough conditions far out at sea.

“The ship comes up alongside and the techs just walk to work on the the windmill,” project manager Whit Carter said.

Turbine maintenance workers in the U.S. currently use small, unstable boats and have to climb wet, slippery ladders to access turbines.

Worker comfort and safety was paramount in designing the ship, Carter said. Many workers and its crew of 23 will likely spend two weeks aboard the ship during maintenance rounds. Most of the bedrooms are for a single occupant. Shared spaces include a gym, cinema, video game room and even a “fire pit lounge.”

“This is not your grandfather’s oilfield,” Clemons said.

Companies that offer cramped vessels with few amenities have a harder time competing for workers, he said.

Edison Chouest will contract the boat out to Orsted, a Danish offshore wind developer, and Eversource, a Connecticut-based energy company. Orsted and Eversource are teaming up on the Revolution, South Fork and Sunrise wind projects off the coasts of New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The shipbuilder recently agreed to build a similar vessel for Equinor, a Norwegian energy company looking to build wind farms off the coasts of New York, Massachusetts and California.