Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO), Ørsted, and Eversource inked a long-term charter agreement for the provision of the first-ever US-flagged, Jones Act-compliant Service Operations Vessel (SOV).
Specifically, the vessel will be engineered, constructed, and operated by ECO as an integral part of the operation and maintenance of the Revolution Wind, South Fork Wind, and Sunrise Wind offshore wind farms in the northeast United States.
The SOV will operate from New York and will be used during the operation & maintenance (O&M) phases of the wind farm projects, serving as an at-sea base of operations to accommodate and transfer technicians, tools, and parts to and from the individual wind turbines.
In addition, the wind farms aim to obtain the necessary federal permits from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
Gary Chouest, President of Edison Chouest Offshore commented that
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.
It is added that the vessel will operate on diesel-electric power that meets EPA Tier 4 emission standards and will feature proprietary ECO Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- built in the United States;
- documented under the laws of the United States;
- owned by U.S. citizens;
- never sold to a foreign citizens.
