Nov. 11
November 11, 2009
Ms. Mae Ella Marie Carlos
November 13, 2009
Edison Chouest Offshore, the Galliano-based offshore services provider and shipbuilder, launched a new supply vessel, the Ingrid, last week at its North American Fabricators shipyard in Houma.
The 280-foot, orange-colored boat was named for Ingrid Ulstein, the 24-year-old daughter of Morten Ulstein, who is prominent in the Norwegian offshore service vessel industry.
Ulstein and Edison Chouest jointly own the Norwegian supply boat company Island Offshore Shipholding.
Ingrid and Morten were at North American Fabricators last Tuesday for the launch ceremony, with Ingrid breaking the bottle on the prow of her namesake.
The Ingrid is the third boat built by Edison Chouest named after someone who is not a member of the Chouest family and who is living, said company spokesman Lonnie Thibodeaux.
Chouest, which started building the 280-foot supply boats in 2004, will have completed 44 of the vessels when the project wraps up in 2010, Thibodeaux said.
The company has finished more than 30 of the vessels.
“We’re putting a boat in the water every 45 days,” Thibodeaux said.
Chouest, whose fleet contains 180 boats, is currently cutting steel for a series of new 300-foot diesel supply vessels with engines different from the kind found in the 280-foot boats, he said.
The Ingrid carries 4,800 tons of dead weight and will be used for supply work in the Gulf of Mexico.
“It used to be about how long a boat was. Now it’s about dead weight tonnage,” a measure of above- and below-deck weight that takes into account liquid cargo, Thibodeaux said.
Edison Chouest launched the Ingrid last week at its North American Fabricators yard in Houma. The Ingrid is named for Ingrid Ulstein, daughter of Morten Ulstein, who is prominent in the Norwegian maritime industry and co-owner with Chouest of an offshore vessel supply company. * Photo by MIKE BROSSETTE
