Founded nearly seven years ago in Houma, La., Leviathan Offshore has made a name for itself in offshore and inland diving services. With a leadership team boasting over 100 years of combined oil and gas industry experience across regions from Canada to Venezuela, from the bayou to the shelf, the company attributes its success to a focus on expertise, professionalism, safety culture, and customer satisfaction.
WorkBoat spoke with Brady Teasley, Leviathan’s project and safety manager, and Todd Godeaux, office and human resource manager, to learn more about the company’s operations, challenges, and growth plans.
Godeaux said that Timothy Clements, Leviathan’s founder, CEO, and president, envisioned a company that offered a unique, client-focused approach to diving services. “He just decided to start his own…He wanted to bring a different type of personalized service to the industry, focusing on expertise and professionalism, safety, good work, and satisfying the customer’s needs,” said Godeaux.
To meet the diverse needs of its customers, Leviathan maintains a wide range of assets and equipment, as reflected in its project portfolio. The company is actively engaged in pipeline recovery and abandonment, platform removals, reverse lay-type operations, project partnerships with NASA, and environmental work, like installing artificial reefs in the Gulf for the Coastal Conservation Association.
The company operates three vessels, each designed to handle specific projects, enabling it to adapt to various industry needs.
The first vessel to join the company’s fleet, the Leviathan I, is a 110’ diving support vessel (DSV) that was retrofit as a three-point anchor vessel that can accommodate 18 personnel, with a maximum capacity of 31. The vessel’s smaller size makes it suitable for setting spreads, working in shallow waters and on smaller projects.
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In 2020, the company expanded its fleet with the acquisition of the 240’x53’ Leviathan, a vessel that has been pivotal for the company’s offshore operations.
“We made it the largest four-point vessel in the Gulf,” Godeaux explained. “It’s got a 50-ton crane which allows us to be able to pull up massive pipe lifts,” he said. Additionally, a set of shears are mounted on the back of the boat.
“It’s a two-shear mechanism,” said Teasley. “One shear holds a pipe, the other shear cuts it, and this is actually a faster method and more economical than using some of our competitors, with their barges.”
“We’ve got such a large deck space and a clear deck space that we can store all this pipe on it without having to have two or three material barges, or a pipe-lay barge having to come out with dozens of people on it to work. And we can do this very quickly and very efficiently.”
In a 2023 project, Leviathan recovered over 1,000 metric tons of pipeline from the Gulf of Mexico. The pipelines were in water depths from 8’ to 214’, pipe diameters ranged from 3” to 12”, and some being concrete coated. Leviathan recovered over 165,000’ of pipe during the project, with recovery speeds averaging 4,500’ per day and reaching a peak of 6,000’ in a single day.
While inland projects historically helped fill gaps during slower seasons, the introduction of the Leviathan has made year-round offshore work possible. “Now that we have the larger vessel, our inland work has slowed because we’re much busier offshore, because this vessel can handle a lot more weather, a lot more seas, so we’re staying busier year-round,” Godeaux added.
Those sentiments were echoed by Rich McKeown, one of Leviathan’s commercial divers, who, at the time of this writing, had just pulled anchor and was returning to port after 170 consecutive days at sea, deeming it one “hell of a season”.
Beyond the offshore work, Leviathan has undertaken unique projects, including a collaboration with NASA at the Johnson Space Center’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. The partnership has allowed Leviathan to establish service capabilities outside the oil and gas industry, opening the door for future work with the agency.
“It was a good experience,” Godeaux said. “We had to go through lots of background checks and certifications to be able to be certified to go and do the work there. So that was a big positive and plus for us, knowing that we were able to get clear for that type of work and possibly any future work that they may have coming up.”
The company looks forward to expanding its offerings across various marine industry markets, supported by a diverse range of equipment that enables it to assist with third-party assets on projects that are not suited for its own vessels.
Recently, the company purchased its newest vessel, the 220’x46’ Kraken from Hornbeck Offshore Services. Leviathan is allowing industry trends and customer demands to dictate its setup, with options including a potential retrofit for saturation diving. “We kind of held off this year to do anything with it… We’re just starting to do a little work on the inside and see where next year is going to bring us, and what we may be geared toward and where we want to move… We’ve positioned ourselves economically and financially to move forward in whichever avenue we decide,” Godeaux said.
Teasley emphasized that safety remains a top priority for Leviathan. “We’ve had zero major incidents or injuries since the company started,” he said. The company attributes its safety record to rigorous project planning, hazard identification, and training. “Observation cards and hazard hunts are done weekly on the vessels,” he added, highlighting the proactive culture instilled within the team.
Leviathan has worked hard to build its dedicated team, recruiting directly from dive schools and fostering internal growth. “We hire graduates as tenders, train them, and promote them to full-fledged divers,” Teasley explained. The company’s emphasis on retention and training has paid off, ensuring a steady pipeline of skilled personnel.
Looking forward, Godeaux emphasized the company’s foundation. “We started with a desire to give clients a better service, built on trust and honesty.” With its Jones Act-compliant fleet and diverse capabilities, Leviathan Offshore is well-prepared to do just that.