Offshore Wonders

What a year for boats!

As many Maritime Executive readers no doubt realize, I consider myself a boat nerd. Having run away to sea at 18, I discovered both a wide world and the best way to get around it.

I’ve sailed, shipped and even steamed on waters near and far, and despite many differences the one constant was a capable vessel under my feet.

Even after I “came ashore,” I’ve kept close to the water and have had the pleasure of surveying a huge variety of vessels. There are very few newbuild vessels in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, for example, that I haven’t been on, and I write these words onboard a specialized heavy-lift cargo vessel in the Caribbean during a break in the project due to afternoon rains.

All that is to say I love boats, their design, capabilities and potential. The offshore renewables market is especially innovative, and it’s with great pleasure that I recap some of the noteworthy newbuilds and soon-to-launch vessels of the year.

ECO Edison

First up is the first Jones Act-compliant service operations vessel (SOV), ECO Edison.

Built at Edison Chouest Offshore’s (ECO) in-house shipyards in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida with components sourced from 34 states, the ECO Edison was constructed by more than 600 workers completing nearly one million working hours. The state-of-the-art, 262-foot-long vessel immediately went to work for Ørsted, serving as a floating, year-round home base for 60 of the first American offshore wind turbine technicians, who are servicing and maintaining the massive offshore turbines off the U.S. East Coast. 

It includes special features like an Ulmatec 47-inch-wide, walk-to-work, motion-compensated gangway, which includes an Alimak elevator with 4,400-pound lifting capacity that allows technicians to easily and safely cross up to 60 feet of water to access t…