Top Marine Vessel Operators Overcome Challenges
U.S. marine vessel operators have invested in their fleets, adopted new technologies and switched to cleaner burning engines and fuels to stay in business. In this edition, we take a look at how industry leading marine operators have flourished, sometimes in tough circumstances. At family-run McAllister and Chouest, sons and daughters learned operations from the ground up, while CEO Todd Hornbeck revamped the first version of a company started by his dad. All value their employees and say workplace safety is a priority. Each of these companies is quick to meet customer demands.
Westport Shipyard sold, no changes anticipated
Representatives of Westport Shipyard, Inc. (Westport, WA), the largest yacht builder in North America, announced today that the company’s assets have been acquired by Westport, LLC, an ownership group that includes members of the Louisiana-based Chouest family. Celebrating 50 years of business in 2014, Westport maintains three locations in Washington state, as well as a marina and sales office in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Employing over 400 skilled employees, Westport has completed more than 120 yachts since 2000. And one of those customers was Gary Chouest. “Gary has always been passionate about our industry, and we are honored to count him as a customer…
Venture Boat Co. Relaunches Itself on Market
Under leadership of new owner, Lee Heaton, US-based Venture Boat Company features modernized new additions to its range. Venture Boat Company has undergone a complete modernization, adding a number of innovative improvements to their existing models, introducing new models and moving production to the world-famous American Custom Yachts (ACY) facility in Stuart, Florida. Through their new partnership with American Custom Yachts, Venture Boats is not only able to provide customers…
ZF Marine Introduces ZF 9000 Series
The new ZF 9000 Series transmissions from ZF Marine are the latest in a long history of industry leading marine transmissions designed to handle the demands of high-power engines. With its design flexibility, the ZF 9000 Series is suited for any vessel – including patrol craft, fast ferries, and luxury yachts – that require compact, lightweight, high-performance propulsion. The series is available in several configurations, including parallel offset (vertical or horizontal), down-angle, and V-drive, and offers ratios of approximately 1.5 to 5.2.
