Louisiana Company To Build 16 New Offshore Supply Vessels

Hornbeck Offshore Services, an offshore vessel provider based in Covington, plans to spend about $720 million building 16 new offshore supply vessels that will be delivered in 2013 and 2014.

The company which provides water transportation for the offshore petroleum industry, also may build another 16 vessels — beyond the initial 16 — if market conditions warrant.

Hornbeck expects to deploy the vessels, which will be built in the United States, in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and Mexico.

The new vessel construction program announced Monday will be Hornbeck's eighth since the company's inception in 1997.