Louisiana company to build, operate wind farm-servicing ship

HOUMA, La. (AP) — A Louisiana shipbuilding company will build and operate a ship that will help run and maintain offshore electricity producing wind farms off the coast of the northeastern United States.

The Courier reports that Galliano-based Edison Chouest Offshore expects the project to create 300 construction jobs. The vessel will be built at the company’s yards in Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi.

Orsted, a Danish-based firm that builds and operates wind farms worldwide, and Eversource, New England’s largest energy provider, plan to construct three wind farms off the coasts of Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts.

“The offshore wind energy industry is generally well developed and understood, particularly in Europe, where an enormous industry has developed over decades, but this industry is in an initial stage in the United States,” Gary Chouest, president of Edison Chouest Offshore, said in a news release.

He said his company is “in a dominant position in the industry with the unique capability to engineer, construct and operate specialized vessels for this market.”

The ship is expected to serve as a sea base to accommodate and transfer technicians, tools and parts to and from individual wind turbines that generate electricity.

“Offshore wind means massive investments for U.S. companies and jobs for American workers, even those in states without active projects,” said Thomas Brostrom, CEO of Orsted North America, Offshore.