lifetime achievement award
Hard graft turned Chouest into leading owner
From small beginnings, Gary Chouest has built a formidable international offshore services group that includes more than 200 vessels, a North American logistics port, and advanced technologies that complement ship operations
of the largest international offshore services companies in the world, said Gary Chouest, the company’s owner, when he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference. Nowadays, the company, based in Galliano,
H Louisiana,
operates more than 200 vessels, as well as a diverse range of technology and shipbuilding companies. Gary Chouest has grown the business from a single vessel in the 1950s to the huge international player it is today. Mr Chouest joined the company full-time at the age of 19, and has since worked in all capacities, starting out as a deckhand and working his way up to captain and through top management. Mr
Chouest received the Lifetime
Achievement Award in front of more than 400 delegates at the industry-leading gala event. To a standing ovation, Mr Chouest said he was accepting the award on behalf of the whole of the company, admitting how much effort and sweat went into building the integrated group. As chief executive and president of Edison
Chouest Offshore, he has been responsible for huge investments in deepwater-capable vessels, shipbuilding, maritime technology and an oilfield logistics centre. The main focus of this investment has been in the US, but with additional facilities built in Brazil and an international fleet profile.
“It is an honour to accept this award for the whole company. Building up Edison Chouest has involved thousands of man-hours and a lot of risk. We have taken a lot of gambles and had plenty of long nights. It would not have been possible without the strong team around me,” Mr Chouest said. “This is a good conference and an excellent time for networking with our vendors,” he added.
Mr Chouest’s companies are at the forefront 4 I Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference and Awards 2012 Gary Chouest accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award
of the subsea support, integrated bridge systems and maritime communications sectors of the industry. Edison Chouest operates a group of shipyards along the US Gulf coast, and one in Brazil, to accommodate a wide range of new construction projects, as well as repairs, conversions and refits on its own fleet and others. Edison Chouest’s ability to design, build, own and operate mission-specific vessels, then manage them, is unmatched in the industry. It all started when Gary Chouest’s father, Edison Chouest, acquired a steel-hulled shrimp fishing vessel to replace a wooden-hulled boat. He decided that working for the oil industry in the 1950s US Gulf was easier than shrimping, and over the years Edison Chouest Offshore has evolved from a two-vessel shrimping operation to one of the world’s premier owners and operators of specialised marine vessels. The company’s fleet of specialised offshore vessels operates mainly in the Gulf of Mexico, but has expanded into markets elsewhere including recent deployments to South America and Africa. The fleet includes some of the largest anchor handlers in the US, such as the 105m Dino Chouest and Laney Chouest.
Also part of the company’s fleet are multi- purpose supply vessels such as 87m Kirt Chouest and Holiday, which are equipped to perform a variety of complex deepwater support operations, including subsea construction,
installation, maintenance, repair, pipelaying,
platform decommissioning and ROV support. Edison Chouest also operates a fleet of 85m and 70m-long platform supply vessels (PSVs). Examples of these are the 85m Kobe Chouest and Santos Supplier, and 70m C-Rover and C-Escort. There are also oil spill response and recovery vessels, including the 58m C-Admiral, and fast supply boats such as 58m Fast Titan and 56m Copacabana to deliver crew and cargo quickly to deepwater installations. The company also operates tractor tugs that are capable of 360-degree manoeuvrability, providing escort and berthing assistance. These tractor tugs are under long-term charter to the US Navy and serve LNG receiving terminals throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Highly specialised vessels owned by the group are deployed around the world, undertaking work such as seismic surveys, subsea support, petroleum discharge, response and recovery and scientific research. The C-Commando is a seismic acquisition vessel and Stim Star III is a well stimulation ship. For ice operations, Edison Chouest has Nanuq, an Ice-class PSV, and Antarctic research ships Laurence M Gould and Nathaniel B Palmer.
Gary Chouest was also instrumental in the formation of North American Shipbuilding in 1974. The shipyard was founded in response to clients’ demands for higher quality and more specialised vessels. Located in Larose, Louisiana,
www.osjonline.com
ard graft and successful risk taking are the basis of the growth that has seen Edison Chouest become one
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