Galliano-based shipbuilder buys Tampa site

Galliano-based shipbuilder Edison Chouest Offshore has added a 62-acre shipyard in Tampa, Fla., to its stable of four existing shipyards in Larose, Houma, Gulfport and Brazil.

Called Tampa Ship, Chouest began leasing the yard from the Tampa Port Authority in November and took over operations in December, said Chouest spokesman Lonnie Thibodeaux.

The site had been leased by Tampa Bay Shipbuilding and Repair before Chouest leased the property. Chouest purchased the assets located at the shipyard from owner Bender Shipbuilding and Repair of Mobile, Ala.

Tampa Ship has four ship-repair docks, a 600-foot assembly building, heavy lifting units, railway service, and crawler cranes, which run along tracks.

The port is linked to the Gulf of Mexico by a 43-foot deep channel.

The Chouest newsletter “Anchor Lines” states that Tampa Ship is the only commercial shipyard between Pascagoula, Miss., and Hampton Roads, Va., having four large graving (ship repair) docks and extensive crane facilities.

“The beauty of that particular yard is its tremendous location,” Thibodeaux said.

Tampa Ship is Chouest’s first shipyard that will repair and build boats for other companies. Founded in 1960 as an operator of offshore supply vessels, the company began building ships in 1974. From that year until 2008, the boats built by Chouest were used only by the company, Thibodeaux said.

“For the first time in Edison Chouest Offshore’s history, we will have a commercial shipyard,” he said.

However, Chouest will continue to repair and build its own vessels exclusively for an indefinite period.

Thibodeaux said, “For the time being, we’ll build only Chouest vessels, but we can build almost anyone a vessel. … The potential to build for other companies exists. For now, we’ll build new boats for Chouest, but we can repair vessels for other companies. We had never done that before.”

“At Tampa, like the other Chouest yards, there will be a little new construction and a little repair work done,” he said.

The company has built 25 of its standard 280-foot offshore supply vessels over the past few years.

Thibodeaux said the Tampa port’s deeper water depths will permit the construction of larger vessels. Chouest will also build larger boats at its LaShip yard under construction at the Port of Terrebonne, but the Houma Navigation Canal has silting, he noted.

“This (Tampa) is the premier location on the Gulf Coast and we needed more shipbuilding capacity with better depths available,” Chouest President Gary Chouest said in “Anchor Lines.”

Thibodeaux said that Florida, Mississippi and Alabama had competed for LaShip.

“Louisiana got the deal, but that did not prevent Chouest from looking,” he said. “The Tampa opportunity popped up quickly. It did not drag on for months.”

Chouest plans to retain most of the 500 people employed at the site in Tampa. One of the attractions for Chouest was the large potential labor pool available in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, Thibodeaux said.

Previous lessee Tampa Bay Shipbuilding had been formed in 1997 out of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner’s Tampa Ship-yards Inc. Chouest’s annual rental cost for the property at the Tampa port is $860,000 through 2027.

“Gary (Chouest) is already looking at designs to modernize the yard,” Thibodeaux said. “We just finished building the shipyards in Brazil and Gulfport. We’re learning as we build the shipyards. We hope to apply that to Tampa.”

Tampa Ship, a 62-acre shipyard in Florida, is now an Edison Chouest Offshore operation. Chouest plans to repair and build ships for other companies at the site. * Photo courtesy of EDISON CHOUEST OFFSHORE