ECO Edison sets a new standard for American-built offshore wind ships
Edison Chouest Offshore has done something remarkable in American shipbuilding: It designed, built and is now operating an entirely new vessel type for the Jones Act market.
The 262-foot ECO Edison is the first-ever U.S.-flagged service operations vessel purpose built for the offshore wind industry. The steel-hulled ship was built at Chouest shipyards throughout the Gulf of Mexico region and assembled primarily at LaShip in Houma, La. Chouest also led design efforts on the diesel-electric vessel with input from Orsted and other European veterans of the offshore wind industry.
ECO Edison left Louisiana in May following a christening event in New Orleans. It arrived at ProvPort in Providence, R.I., weeks later and almost immediately went to work supporting the 12-turbine South Fork Wind project located southeast of Block Island.
“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 Orsted,” Gary Chouest, president and CEO of Edison Chouest Offshore, said of the new ship.
“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,” he continued.
Service operations vessels, or SOVs, are multifunction ships that can spend weeks at sea supporting offshore wind farms. These ships, which are common in Europe with its established offshore wind sector, typically motor from one section of the wind farm to another offloading technicians and cargo where they’re needed. Although each SOV is different, the purpose is generally the same: to house technicians comfortably for days or weeks at a time, and carry spare parts, tools and other equipment necessary to keep the massive wind turbines working and generating electricity for the local power grid.
The primary storage area is below deck in a massive climate-controlled space with hundreds of feet of shelving and dozens of pallets to store all manner of components and equipment. Pallet jacks and an electric forklift help organize and move the cargo as needed. The ship’s aft deck has space for multiple 20-foot cargo containers in assorted configurations.
It’s one thing to house people and equipment. It’s another to safely transfer them to the turbines themselves while at sea. ECO Edison is equipped with a custom Alimak elevator with a 4,400-pound lifting capacity integrated into an Ulmatec 47-inch-wide articulating walkway that extends more than 60 feet to securely connect the ship with the turbine platform while at sea. The walkway applies 2,000 pounds of pressure against the turbine to remain locked in place, even in dynamic sea states.
In practice, wind technicians can locate whatever equipment or materials are needed in the warehouse and load them onto a pallet jack and then take the elevator up as many as seven stories to the walkway, get off and walk to work. The idea is to simplify the process of safely transferring goods and people to the turbines while at sea.
“This ‘walk to work’ system is the heart of the boat,” Capt. Taylor Apollonio said during a recent vessel tour in Providence.
ECO Edison operates with a maritime and hospitality crew totaling up to 27 people. It has accommodations for 70 offshore wind technicians, who live in hotel-like rooms spread across three decks. ECO Edison is one of the first, if not the first, ships that meet Safer Seas regulations mandating cameras be installed in corridors leading to cabins. Technicians and crews access their rooms and other approved spaces on the ship using an electronic key fob.
The ship contains a massive galley, industrial-style kitchen and laundry, and numerous amenities for crew and client personnel during off hours. Some examples include a gym, multiple lounges, a game room, library and screening room. And for the client — in this case Orsted — there is ample office space outfitted with modern desks, flatscreen monitors and even break rooms like you’d see in a downtown office.
In the working spaces primarily below deck, there are locker rooms for crews to change in and out of their work gear before entering the living spaces on the ship as well as rooms for wet clothes to hang and dry out between shifts. The ship has male and female locker rooms and changing areas and a hospital with two beds to treat serious injuries under the auspices of a trained medic.
ECO Edison’s diesel-electric propulsion system is designed for efficiency at sea and responsive operations alongside the turbine. In this case, four Caterpillar 3512E engines drive massive Nidec generators to create power for twin aft-mounted Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers and the three 1,675-hp (1,250-kW) Brunvoll tunnel thrusters installed at the bow. The generators create electricity for all onboard power needs, from hotel loads to the elevator and “walk to work” articulating walkway, through a GE Vernova power management system. The ship also has an advanced dynamic positioning system.
ECO Edison cruises efficiently at about 10 knots and can reach almost 20 knots in open water. “She has a lot of speed and responds very quickly,” Apollonio said. “And it is very nimble. These drives create a lot of torque, and the ship can turn on a dime.
“You can make the boat do whatever you want to do with it,” he said, describing the ship as “responsive and maneuverable.” “It takes the environmental conditions out of the equation because it has so much power.”
On deck, ECO Edison has a little of everything to accomplish its primary tasks. One element is the aluminum crew transfer vessel (CTV) Tee Ed powered by Volvo Penta engines and IPS drives that rest on an elevated perch on the starboard side under a Vestdavit launch and recovery system. The CTV has space for 12 passengers and can be used to zip from turbine to turbine and for myriad other tasks at the wind farm.
Two Appleton Crane systems, with 1- and 2-metric-ton lifting capacity, respectively, have power to hoist all manner of cargo and equipment onto the ship. There also is a helideck forward that is rated for popular Bell, Sikorsky and Augusta Westland helicopters.
Advanced equipment on the bridge share wind conditions, sea state and other critical conditions on the ship with an approaching helicopter pilot. Another Edison Chouest company, Marine Technologies, designed the integrated bridge with a host of advanced displays and navigation electronics, including Furuno radar and VHF radios.
Although ECO Edison is crewed by mariners from across the U.S., including Edison’s Chouest’s home territory along the Gulf, it has a healthy contingent of New England crewmembers, too. One is Apollonio, a Maine resident and Maine Maritime Academy graduate.
“The real selling point for me is being close to home,” he said. “I have never had a chance to work on a vessel this close to home … it feels like I am home, even though I am in Rhode Island.”
Although ECO Edison is the first of its kind in the United States, other U.S. operators have SOV projects in various stages of development. Edison Chouest also is currently building a sister ship to ECO Edison that will have lithium-ion batteries integrated into the propulsion system to reduce emissions. Delivery of that vessel, which will work at other offshore wind sites, is slated for next year. •