Edison Chouest Offshore-backed Gulf Ship is expanding its yard to build tugboats for offshore oil operations.

Gulf Ship, based in Gulfport, Mississippi, will renovate part of its facility and, with the help of the Mississippi Development Authority, upgrade the launching system and waterfront area while hiring 200 more workers, the state said in a statement.

Edison Chouset did not immediately return a request for comment.

"For the second time in less than a month, Mississippi is leading in the nation’s shipbuilding and maritime industries, as Gulf Ship plans to create hundreds of new jobs to fulfil a contract for state-of-the-art tugboats that will service offshore oil operations," Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said in a statement announcing the move.

On 1 September, the state announced Seemann Composites had received a $2.1trn contract with the US Navy to develop composite components.

Gulf Ship is one of five shipyards Edison Chouset owns: four along the US Gulf Coast and one in Brazil.

Gulf Ship's facility is 38 acres in size and opened in 2006 on Bayou Bernard. In 2014, the yard grew larger with the acquisition of a former industrial site nearby.

It was primarily used for the construction and upkeep of tractor tugboats and platform supply vessels.

The company commissioning the ships was not disclosed.

The offshore sector has taken a hit thanks to the double impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the oil price collapse this spring.

Taken together, oil companies began cutting back on production, leaving the outfits that service them losing contracts and watching rates plummet.