Laney Chouest News

Governor Bobby Jindal appointed south Louisiana businessman and entrepreneur Laney J. Chouest to the Board of the Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans. Chouest, who was sworn in during today’s Board meeting, will serve a five-year term, succeeding Joseph F. Toomy, one of two Jefferson Parish representatives on the regional Board that governs Port operations in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes. A native of Galliano, La. and resident of New Orleans, Chouest is the owner and developer of NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, La.

Edison Chouest, a commercial shrimper who turned one utility vessel into a major shipbuilding and offshore petroleum service company, has died at the age of 91, the AP reported. Chouest died Wednesday. A cause of death was not released. Edison Chouest Offshore had its beginnings in 1960 when Chouest, who owned shrimp boats, purchased a steel-hulled 65-foot utility vessel that had six months to go in a contract with Humble Oil Co. to supply a petroleum rig in the . Chouest is survived by his wife, Delores Chouest; three sons, current Edison Chouest Offshore CEO Gary Chouest, Eddie Chouest and Laney Chouest. Visitations were scheduled for Sunday in Galliano and Monday in Cut Off, followed by a funeral mass on Monday in Cut Off.

The 2003 workboat construction market had its ups and downs and at best has given mixed signals about 2004 and beyond. Among the various workboat vessel segments, passenger vessels, excluding ferries and inland waterway vessels such as tugs and push boats, are in a static mode. Vessels will be built in 2004, but at a pace constant with years past. Some markets such as the building of patrol boats and other vessels with national security implications appear are sure bet winners for 2004 with several shipyards with large contracts that have deliveries stretched out for two years or more in some cases. Another market that continues to grow is high-speed aluminum passenger ferry and the slower passenger/vehicle ferries.

Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) has long been the leading offshore service vessel company in the Gulf of Mexico with more than 100 vessels offering supply, crew transportation, anchor handling and other services. Last year the company debuted the world's largest OSV, the 348-ft. Laney Chouest, an Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessel and the continuation of their 280-ft. series of supply vessels. By the end of this year, six of the 280-ft. vessels will have been built. Now the Galliano, La.-based company is looking to extend its reach internationally and has formed a new company, Island Offshore Shopping AS, to pursue offshore service business internationally. Island Offshore is a joint venture between Edison Chouest Offshore and Ulstein.

What About Cuba? Political allegiance notwithstanding, continuing unrest and war in the energy critical Middle East continues to wreak havoc with world oil prices, with consumers around the world struggling to keep up with fast escalating gasoline prices. While (at press time) the benchmark prices for a barrel of crude have settled just under $40, the situation has spurred new exploration and production ventures, one such speculation in the Gulf of Mexico off of Cuba. According to a recent report in The Economist (June 5, 2004 edition, page 48), Spain's Repsol has moved into position a Deep Water drilling rig off of the country's northwest coast with the intention of drilling two wildcat wells in what could amount to a successful attempt to energize a failing economy.

Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) is nearing completion of its 60th vessel for deepwater operations. This number includes platform supply vessels (PSV) and anchor handling vessels (AHTS). The sixtieth vessel is the last of a series of five 260' vessels with 3,500 tons of deadweight cargo capacity. ECO owns and operates 122 offshore vessels of all types, including 62 certified dynamically positioned (DP) vessels. Deliveries for the second half of 2002 include: one 260' PSV, one 280' PSV, one 348' AHTS, and one 165' fast supply vessel (FSV). The 348' AHTS , the M/V LANEY CHOUEST, will have 30,000 HP and will be one of the largest offshore vessels in the world. The 280' PSV will have in excess of 4,500 tons of deadweight cargo capacity and will be the first of six vessels with the same capacity.

The one constant about the management of offshore vessel operating companies is the domination of family members of the founder. Except for the largest of these companies, Tidewater, Inc., that is a public NYSE-listed firm, most of the companies in this category, large and small, are run by the descendents of the founder. Many of these companies still bear the founder's name and most of the vessels are named after family members. In 1948, Abdon Callais converted a shrimp trawler into an offshore service vessel and that began a company that is in its third generation of providing transportation of fluids and cargo to offshore oil and gas rigs. Abdon's sons Harold and Ronald became involved with offshore oil buisness.

Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) announced plans to build several new anchor handling towing supply vessels (AHTS), as well as more than a dozen new generation 280-ft. platform supply vessels (PSV) in its affiliated shipyards in the U.S. All vessels are scheduled to join the ECO domestic fleet within the next three years. Construction highlights feature seven new anchor handlers: Two (2) 348-ft., 21,600 HP new generation anchor handlers and five (5) 288-ft., 16,000 HP vessels. Also slated for construction are fourteen (14) 4,700 deadweight ton PSVs. All the vessels are slated for delivery between February 2007 and mid-2010, and will be constructed at ECO affiliated shipyards: North American Shipbuilding (NAS) in Larose…

There has been a steady stream of bad news recently in the marine press regarding the health of the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico. Much of this bad "press" is fueled by boat operators who are trying to do a "Rope-a-dope" on their competitors. That is by "talking the industry down" they are trying to convince competition that "better days" may be years out, hoping they may not be ready when the turnaround comes. All indications are that the industry will indeed drill itself out of the current malaise - sooner than later. And the indicators for such a turnaround are right in front of your face if you know where to look. In general, people who follow intensely the oil and gas industry all agree that a significant rebound is on the way.

When it comes to large tugs, none is larger than the Laney Chouest, the world's largest anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel. At 348- x 72- x 31-ft., the Laney Chouest is the king of all tugs in the Gulf of Mexico, or anywhere else for that matter. It was built by the North American Shipbuilding, Larose, La. a part of Edison Chouest Offshore, Galliano, La. who also owns and operates the vessel. The vessel is super efficient since it is designed to do several jobs that formerly needed separate vessels For example, the vessel will set suction piles that anchor floating oil production facilities to the seabed using the largest tow winch every built. That is a huge job for any anchor handler.

There are several large offshore service vessels working in the Gulf of Mexico, but none so big and powerful as the Laney Chouest. At 348 ft. long by 72 ft. wide with a 31-ft. deep hull, the Laney Chouest simply dwarfs anything in the Gulf. Built by Edison Chouest Offshore, Galliano, La. at their North American Shipbuilding facility, the vessel is already at work in the Gulf on a charter for Shell Offshore. "This vessel was designed and built for a very specific mission-to preset mooring systems in 10,000 ft. of water safely and efficiently," said Roger White, senior vice president of Edison Chouest Offshore. "The real market for this vessel will be in the 5,000-10,000 ft.

Although this has been considered an off year in the Gulf of Mexico from rig count and fleet utilization standpoints, it is another record year for major offshore operators expanding their fleets and the shipyards that are building these vessels. Last year, over 50 supply boats were delivered and about an equal number of crew/supply vessels made their way into the fleets of operators. This year looks equally robust as vessels are being ordered in quantities of four, six and even 10. This begs the question as to why offshore vessel operators are order record number of vessels if the business is sluggish? The answer is two fold: Deep water and deep gas. Drilling activity is bound to increase based on these two factors industry leaders believe.