Chouest taking over Tampa Bay shipyard

The Louisiana-based Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) is establishing an operation at the Port of Tampa, buying the Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair Co.’s lease and retaining its 500 employees with plans to add workers and additional trades.

ECO, founded with a single vessel nearly 50 years ago, operates six shipyards along the Gulf Coast and in Brazil and builds custom yachts in Stuart. Chouest will operate in Tampa as the newly formed Tampa Ship LLC. It will begin construction of a $30 million, 300-foot vessel in January at the port to service oil and gas platforms.

Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair, which did conversions, overhauls and repairs, will turn over its lease and assets in December. The terms of the deal were not revealed.

“We intend to expand our capabilities in Tampa to build new vessels,” Chouest said, adding that the Tampa operation also will perform repairs. New trades such as carpenters will be added to accommodate the shipbuilding mission.

Tampa Ship has agreed to generate at least $860,000 in annual rent through 2027 and pay for dredging slips within the leased premises to a 30-foot depth. “We needed more shipbuilding capacity with better depths available,” Chouest said. “This is the premier location on the Gulf Coast.”

His company builds and operates its own fleet for clients, ranging from vessels that help dock nuclear submarines for the Navy to supply vessels for ExxonMobil, Chevron and others. The family-owned company, which does not disclose revenue and profit figures, employs 7,000 and has tripled in size since 1993.