VIDEO: ECO Edison christened in New Orleans

Image: Ørsted

America’s offshore wind energy supply chain marked a major milestone Saturday, when ECO Edison, the first-ever American-built, owned, and crewed offshore wind service operations vessel (SOV), was christened in the Port of New Orleans.

U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R.-La.) and Rep. Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D.-La.) joined senior executives from Ørsted and Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) at events to celebrate the completion of the SOV, that included its official christening by Jennifer Scalise.

The 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. It was built by more than 600 workers at ECO shipyards in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, with components of the vessel sourced from 34 states, from Alabama to West Virginia.

The state-of-the-art, 262-foot long live-aboard ECO Edison will serve as a floating, year-round home base 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.

“The Gulf Coast region is playing a huge role in the growing U.S. offshore wind supply chain, using their decades of experience to deliver more homegrown American energy and serving as one example of Ørsted’s more than $20 billion of investments into the United States,” said David Hardy, group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted. “Thank you to Edison Chouest for delivering this milestone – building the first American-made service operations vessel. Our team can’t wait to put her in service, with state-of-the-art safety technologies and features to ensure comfort at sea. We’re grateful to Leader Scalise and his wife, Jennifer, and Congressman Carter for joining the festivities this weekend to ready the ECO Edison for her work advancing American energy.”

“We’re incredibly proud that our shipyards, engineers and more than 600 shipbuilders have now delivered a U.S.-first vessel that will support offshore wind energy for years to come for our trusted partners at Ørsted,” said Gary Chouest, president of Edison Chouest Offshore. “Just as several of our vessels supported the construction of the first utility-scale offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind Farm, so too will the ECO Edison lead the way as this first-ever American-made offshore wind SOV.”

The ECO Edison is powered by two Cat 3512E engines.

“Caterpillar Marine is committed to helping our customers reach their most challenging goals and is proud to provide the power for this first American-built offshore wind SOV. The U.S. EPA Tier 4 certified Cat 3512E engines are built with the highest durability and are ready to be dual-fuel methanol converted in the future, ensuring that Ørsted can always meet their needs, both today and long into the future,” said Brad Johnson, vice president and general manager of Caterpillar Marine.

The ECO Edison’s special-purpose design is focused on passenger safety and comfort, enhanced maneuverability, extended offshore endurance and reduced emissions. It includes special features like a “walk to work” motion-compensated gangway that allows technicians to easily and safely access the wind turbines. It carries a smaller daughter craft onboard that can be deployed to efficiently maneuver crew across the wind farms.