 GULF OFFSHORE 2002
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Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) is nearing completion of its 60th vessel for deepwater operations. This number includes platform supply vessels (PSV) and anchor handling vessels (AHTS). The sixtieth vessel is the last of a series of five 260 ft vessels with 3,500 tons of deadweight cargo capacity. ECO owns and operates 122 offshore vessels of all types, including 62 certified dynamically positioned (DP) vessels. The 348 ft AHTS, the 30,000 hp M/V LANEY CHOUEST, will be one of the largest offshore vessels in the world. The 280 ft PSV will have in excess of 4,500 tons of deadweight cargo capacity and will be the first of six vessels with the same capacity. All six of the 280 ft vessels will be delivered prior to the end of 2003. "All of our deepwater vessels have redundancy features in excess of DP certification requirements," says company president & CEO Gary Chouest. "ECO has developed these redundancy requirements in cooperation with customers owning deepwater structures that are concerned about vessel impacts to those structures." To date, ECO "TLP (tension leg platform) certified" vessels have made over 3,500 successful approaches to TLP structures in the Gulf of Mexico. "Being a provider of shared vessel services and scheduled runs at our C-Logistics affiliate, has given us insight into the optimum design for a PSV," says company VP Laney Chouest. "We have designed these vessels along with our port facilities to be part of a total system to optimize cargo movement efficiency. Customers that load and unload at C-Port under the guidance of C-Logistics experience logistics costs savings in the 30 to 40% range when compared to traditional dedicated vessel services." In addition to the above mentioned drilling support vessels, ECO is building three 145 ft deepwater production support vessels. |
