“Fast, faster, fastest” is a buzz phrase that aptly describes the evolution of SEACOR Marine’s fleet of fast supply vessels (FSVs).
First there was the Express class, then the Express Plus class, and now, with the delivery of the 194-foot Liam J. McCall in February, the Express Plus-Plus class. The boat, built by Gulf Craft LLC in Franklin, La., can reach speeds of nearly 40 knots while providing a new level of passenger comfort.
On an initial delivery run in February, Capt. Rick Oliver used the opportunity to show off that speed. When Oliver thrust forward on the five throttles, the vessel got up and seemed to fly over the water.
“SEACOR’s seventh-generation FSV designs are focused on maximum speed while maintaining crew and passenger comfort,” said Joe McCall, senior project manager for SEACOR.
At Port Fourchon, La., in August, fresh from a deep water charter for Chevron and about to begin a charter with Anadarko, Capt. James Taylor confirmed the early reviews: “We’re making some good speed with her.”
In addition to speed and comfort, the Express Plus-Plus boats, designed by Incat Crowther in Lafayette, La., also address deck cargo capacity and emergency evacuation capability — both important considerations as oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico are conducted hundreds of miles from the coast.
With those operations reaching ever farther to sea, demand has grown for more speed and more supply capacity, resulting in the birth of the FSV. On the leading edge of that development was Norman McCall of McCall Boat Rentals.
When SEACOR and McCall Boat merged in 1996, Norman McCall and his son, Joe, came in the bargain. The McCalls had built a highly reputable fleet of fast crew boats plying the Gulf Coast oil field. Bolstered by the international profile of SEACOR and the escalation of deep water drilling, the pair spearheaded the evolution of crew boats into FSVs.
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