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.