Under the guidance of Alden J. “Doc” Laborde, Ocean Drilling and Exploration Co. (Odeco) grew to become one of the largest contract drilling companies in the offshore business. However, Laborde created a number of new wrinkles in the offshore industry.
One of these was invention of the built-for-purpose offshore supply vessel.
Not satisfied with the use of war surplus boats to transport supplies to and from rigs working offshore, Laborde penciled in the design of a vessel somewhat larger than the ex-Navy boats, with considerably more power and with the bridge, deck house and controls forward, leaving the entire after deck open for placing cargo that could be easily hoisted up by the rig’s crane equipment.
The new book,Pioneering Offshore: The Early Years, details the problems associated with moving consumable goods, fresh water and other needed supplies from shore bases across miles of heavy seas to mobile drilling rigs working in the open Gulf of Mexico.
In the book, author F. Jay Schempf points out the problem-solving genius of Doc Laborde:
“With machinery, passenger compartments and the wheelhouse stacked just behind the bow - an arrangement much like that of a shrimp boat - such a vessel would be more stable in heavy seas, Laborde reasoned. Also, it could be heaved aft, with the stern facing the rig, so the pilot could more easily use the vessel’s engines to keep on station and thus cut down on collisions.”
The vessel, calledEbb Tide, was built for about $225,000. She ultimately revolutionized offshore petroleum supply and transportation services, and was copied time and again by competitors and by other marine interests, including the fishing industry and oceanographic institutions.
Construction of theEbb Tide marked the founding of the first contract offshore supply vessel company, Tidewater Marine Services Inc. John P. Laborde, Doc’s brother, took over the reins to run the highly successful company, which continues today as one of the world’s largest providers of special offshore vessels in the world.The book also traces development of the crew boat and the helicopter for personnel transport from shore to rigs, platforms and construction barges working offshore.
