Moratorium may be 'death knell' for oil service sector

The BP blowout and its aftermath constitute a continuing tragedy of gigantic proportions, both for the nation as a whole and Louisiana in particular. The administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling is ill advised and will compound this tragedy.

Over 50,000 wells have been drilled in the Gulf of Mexico with no environmental incidents of any consequence. Of that number, 4,000 were deepwater wells (over 1,000 feet), and over 700 were ultradeepwater wells (over 5,000 feet). None of them experienced any problems.

These impressive statistics establish that the offshore drilling industry has an excellent safety record. No one in our industry wants to see the water polluted with oil, and no one wants to see anyone injured or killed in the production of energy for our nation. The fact that the MMS conducted a safety assessment of each deepwater rig in the days following the blowout and found no significant problems is a testament to the industry's commitment to safe operations.

Laborde Marine is a family-owned New Orleans-based business that employs over 200 people and has an annual payroll of over $14 million. Over the last three years, we have built in U.S. shipyards or acquired U.S.-built and -flagged vessels primarily designed to service the deepwater drilling market. We own and/or operate 21 vessels, all built in U.S. shipyards. We have invested over $150 million to build or acquire our fleet. Now the U.S. government is telling us simply to "park" our vessels for six months.

Never in the history of the U.S. has the government decided to shut down an entire industry for six months. The decision seems to be a knee-jerk reaction based on an emotional response to the spill, and made without a full appreciation of the consequences which will adversely impact tens of thousands of hard working people who are engaged in the industry.

If the moratorium on deepwater drilling is not lifted, the 33 semisubmersible rigs and/or drillships affected will simply go to other countries/regions where they will be well received such as Brazil, West Africa and Southeast Asia. They will not return to the U.S. Gulf for years, if ever. The damage to our industry will be irreversible.

The companies most affected by this plan are the U.S.-based service companies, particularly the marine/boat companies that built their vessels in U.S. shipyards as required by U.S. law to work in U.S. waters. For us to operate internationally, we will have to compete with vessels built in foreign yards at a much lower cost and often subsidized by foreign governments. It will not be a level playing field.

The moratorium may well be the death knell for U.S. businesses engaged in the energy service sector.

Cliffe F. Laborde

J. Peter Laborde Jr.

Managing Members

Laborde Marine

New Orleans, La.

Editor's Note: The original letter was sent by Laborde Marine to Louisiana Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter on June 4, with copies also sent to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and the state's congressional delegation.

Talk about timing …

I just received my May issue of WorkBoat . What a sorry irony that it should feature a cover article on the rebounding Gulf of Mexico workboat industry.

As was the case after the Exxon Valdez oil spill here in Alaska, it has now become certain that the Gulf will experience a substantial growth in workboat activity over the coming weeks and months. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of activity we might prefer. Most day-rate contracts will be associated with cleaning up an oily mess. "Spillionaires" will once again enjoy a temporary, if regrettable, windfall.

Experience in Prince William Sound teaches us that commercial fishermen in the Gulf better take on as much cleanup work now as they can. They will need all the temporary income they can get in order to help offset the long-term losses they will face over years to come.

Capt. Joel Hanson

Sitka, Alaska

Eastern originally built Hornbeck SSRq s supply vessels

On page 58 in the May issue ("Plenty of Purpose"), it says in the story that, "The two vessels were originally built in the early 90s at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine."

Everyone knows that Bath Iron Works builds destroyers and cruisers, not commercial ships. Those two sulfur tankers were built at Eastern Shipbuilding Group. We completed the first vessel and delivered it (the Benno Schmidt ) and we built the second vessel's (the W.K. McWilliams Jr. ) hull, superstructure, etc., and before we finished it, Freeport towed it to McDermott in Morgan City, La., to finish the outfitting.

Only the Benno went to work before the sulfur market collapsed. The WK never saw much, if any, service before it was tied up. How did you miss this?

Kenneth R. Munroe

Vice President

Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc.

Panama City, Fla.

Ed. Note: Ken, you are correct. Sorry for the error. We reported what we were told by our contacts for the story, and apparently they had it wrong, too!