LaShip going up at Terrebonne port

Edison Chouest Offshore in Galliano may have started out small in 1960, servicing oil drillers in the Gulf of Mexico with a small fleet of boats, but the company has grown into shipbuilding in a really big way.

Groundbreaking was held in April for Chouest’s biggest shipyard yet – LaShip – at the Port of Terrebonne.

LaShip, which is a new Chouest subsidiary, will occupy around 25 acres at the port and cost around $100 million to construct. The company donated 50 acres to the port in 2006.

The facility will be completed sometime in 2009 and could create as many as 1,000 new jobs, many paying $54,000 annual salaries.

“This is putting us on the map,” said Laney Chouest with Edison Chouest. “It will help provide steady work for all kinds of skills and vendors. It’s a total game-changer.”

Chouest already builds dozens of new ships yearly at its four shipyards, two of which are in the Tri-parishes. Started in 1974, North American Shipbuilding in Larose employs 800 workers; North American Fabricators in Houma, founded in 1996, employs 500 workers.

Chouest has built vessels that help battleships and nuclear submarines to dock and vessels that break polar ice. However, much of its business is constructing supply boats servicing rigs in the Gulf.

The company now builds vessels that are between 87 and 348 feet.

But LaShip will build vessels longer than 350 feet to service deepwater rigs in the Gulf. Oil drilling is expected to take place increasingly in the deepwater Gulf.

“We’ll hire people from the area, mechanics from the area,” said company president Gary Chouest.

“We’ll be more competitive than anywhere in the U.S.,” he said. “We’ll see the best shipyard in the U.S. for oil and gas vessels. We’re going to see the Cajun work ethic.”

He said the facilty’s location at the port is ideal for working with other oil- and gas-related businesses.

LaShip already has a contract with nearby oilrig platform builder Gulf Island Fabrication, Chouest said.

Fletcher Technical Community College’s Louisiana Marine and Petroleum Institute is also nearby, helping to provide LaShip with potential employees. A shortage of skilled workers is a common complaint among area industries.

State Sen. Reggie Dupre (D-Houma) said the idea for LaShip-a shipyard specializing in constructing supply vessels to service deepwater oilrigs-came about following Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

Chouest approached Dupre about building LaShip because the hurricane had destroyed pipelines in the Gulf. He and the port announced the new shipyard deal in August 2006.

Laney Chouest said LaShip decided to build in Terrebonne Parish for several reasons. Chouest already had operations in Houma with North American Fabricators, but the two main factors were access to the Houma Navigation Canal and inducements by Terrebonne Parish government.

“We didn’t have access to a proper waterway in Larose,” he said.

“Parish government made accommodations for us,” he said. “They made business development efforts and were helpful with property taxes. I have to hand it to the Terrebonne Parish government for its economic development efforts.”

Chouest said Mississippi and Alabama tried to recruit LaShip, but “Terrebonne Parish government did the best job.”

He added that the company provides its workers with long-term careers.

“We don’t treat them like commodities,” he said. “The Cajun work ethic is part of our culture. All are good at what they do. Ours are the best in the world. … We have nothing but positive feedback from every part of the community.”

Mostly because of its anticipated economic impact, LaShip has gotten no small amount of state and federal assistance.

The company received $65 million in federal low-interest Gulf Opportunity Zone loans to build the facility.

The Port of Terrebonne has received $14 million from the state for dredging and building bulkheads to accommodate the new yard, including a $4 million grant from the Governor’s Rapid Response Fund.

And the Louisiana Workforce Commission is going to shape some of its job training programs to try to fill LaShip’s workforce demands.

“All the state did was make sure we invested in the infrastructure,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said at the facility’s groundbreaking ceremony. “This is a huge economic development win not only for the bayou region but for the state. It’s a great return on investment. It will allow people to put down roots in Louisiana.”

Jindal is not the only public official happy about LaShip.

Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet said, “This is of colossal proportions.”