NASSCO Lays Keel for Jones Act Tanker Liberty

U.S. shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO hosted a keel laying ceremony on Thursday, May 26 for the Liberty, one of three new ECO Class Jones Act tankers under a construction contract with SEA-Vista LLC, a partnership between SEACOR Holdings, Inc. and Avista Capital Partners. 

Construction on the Liberty began at NASSCO’s San Diego shipyard in October 2015. Once completed, the vessel will be a 610-foot, 50,000 deadweight-ton, LNG-conversion-ready product tanker with a 330,000 barrel cargo capacity, operated by Seabulk Tankers, Inc.

Ceremony honorees Tom Denning, Ed Hoffman and Tom Sofyanos—all representatives of SEA-Vista LLC—welded their initials into the keel of the ship.

The series’ first ship, Independence, was launched December 12, 2015.