In the heart of New Orleans, a visionary named Jerome L. Goldman opened a small naval architecture and ship design office. Three years later, Vladimir M. Friede joined him, and together founded Friede & Goldman, Inc.

F&G tapped into the emerging offshore oil and gas market with the design of the Leonard Glade, one of the earliest mobile offshore platforms—providing mobility beyond fixed platforms.

F&G launched the ODECO 135, the world’s first purpose-built semi-submersible drilling rig. A total of 12 units were constructed, revolutionizing offshore drilling.

Friede & Goldman designed the worlds first LASH carrier, (Lighter Aboard Ship) S/S Acadia Forest was built at Avondale Shipyard. This vessel was a new generation of breakbulk cargo ship that carried smaller floating lighters (barges) each loaded with their own cargo.

Continued evolution led to the ODECO 12-column semi-submersible with 11 units built.

F&G entered the jack-up rig market with the launch of the L-780 “MOD 0”, with an initial 4 jack-ups built. The design was further refined and F&G’s patented “Rack Chock” system was added to become the L-780 “MOD II” with total 35 units built.

Solidified F&G’s reputation as an industry pioneer with the iconic Pacesetter & Enhanced Pacesetter designs, a twin-hull, six-column semi-submersible—46 units were built, making it a global benchmark.

Introduced MOD-V and MOD-VI Class, jack-ups tackled harsh environments with confidence. Six units were built – Monarch, Monitor, Magellan and Galaxy I, II and III.

Introduced the Trendsetter, a unique five-column semi-submersible featuring a large central column for riser storage and handling (2 units built).

the company’s founder, Jerome L. Goldman, was inducted into the Offshore Energy Center Hall of Fame.

Building on the previous success of L-780 “MOD II”, the “Super M2” was developed and 20 were built.

The JU-2000E jack-up was developed for 400 feet water depth with a modular design concept. It became the most successful jack-up design of the decade with 57 units built in various shipyards around the world.

The ExD is a semi-submersible drilling unit with 4-column, watertight upper hull & patented redundant transverse bracing. The ExD led the sixth-generation newbuild cycle with 13 units built.

Introduced Millennium SA, a 4-column semi-submersible for moderate environment (2 units built).

Successfully entered the Chinese offshore market with major achievements like Lan Jiang (Pipelay Crane Vessel), HYSY 941 (JU2000E) and HYSY 981 (ExD).

In collaboration with ZPMC, co-developed a proprietary high-capacity jacking system now used across industry.

Entered into Offshore Wind in a design consortium for a new generation Wind Turbine Installation Vessel (WTIV) Innovation, now owned and operated by DEME.

Unveiled cutting-edge designs with adoption of “green” and low-carbon technologies:
– DS-3810 ultra deepwater drillship

– ExD HE 1500M a mid-water semi-submersible for North Sea environment

– Universal M, a harsh environment jack-up for 450 feet water depth

Many novel concepts developed to specifically address the challenges of efficiently installing the ever growing offshore turbines

F&G extended its engineering excellence to renewable energy, developing groundbreaking offshore wind solutions including Windsetter series WTIVs and innovative BargeRack technology.