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Breaux Bay Craft News

27 Jun 2022

Boatbuilding: Pivoting to the Market Demand at Breaux Bay Craft for 65 Years

Photo courtesy Breaux’s Bay Craft/Cummins

In the 65 years, since Roy Breaux, Sr. founded Breaux’s Bay Craft and on down through three generations, the yard has built over 1700 hulls. Through the regular expansion and contraction of the oil industry, they learned to pivot from market demand to market demand.As the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico moved farther offshore, the demand for larger and faster crew boats, was met by Breaux. The fine-hulled aluminum crew boats grew to 125-foot vessels powered by up to five 700 hp Cummins KTA19 engines…

18 Jun 2008

Four U.S. Flag Crewboats Sold

Marcon International, Inc. of Coupeville, Washington reported the sale of four U.S. flag, 110 x 24 ft., aluminum hull crewboats from Stanco Boat Rental Ltd. Panama. The four vessels, Milky Way, Brenda Lee, Twix and Kit-Kat are all being delivered promptly on their own bottom directly to the Buyer. Three of the vessels are sister-boats, built by Breaux Bay Craft in Loreauville, La., in 1979 and 1980. Each of these vessel has capacity for about 38 tons of deck cargo plus seating for 59 passengers and accommodations for a crew of five.

02 Oct 2001

The Specialists: A Quartet of S. Louisiana Yards Builds Most U.S. Crew/Supply Boats

The area directly south of Lafayette, La., is authentic bayou country, known for Cajun culture, excellent food, unique music and, for boat lovers, the crew/supply boat capital of the world. Four boat yards in this area build these multi-engine, all- aluminum, speedy vessels, almost exclusively. Each yard turns out up to six crew/supply boats a year. In fact, three of the shipyards are located within just a few miles from each other in the tiny hamlet of Loreauville, La., a town that seems to be made up mostly of aluminum welders. That, of course, is an exaggeration, but not by much. Not every vessel delivered from these shipyards goes to work supporting the search for oil and gas…

05 Apr 2004

Vessels: Fewer, but More Capable OSVs Being Produced in Gulf Shipyards

As noted in the accompanying article the Gulf of Mexico is in the midst of a drilling malaise. The days when southern shipyards routinely turned out 50-60 supply boats and an equal number of crew/supply vessels is over at least for the time being. The last three years has seen an unprecedented number of OSVs joined the fleets of Tidewater, Hornbeck, Otto Candies, Edison Chouest and other major offshore operators. Leevac Shipyards is a prime example. For the last four years they have built almost exclusively for Hornbeck Offshore Services, producing a number of 200-260 ft. very capable supply boats including four 240-ft. platform supply vessels in 2003. Today their order book includes a huge casino boat and a large 445-ft. by 78-ft. tank barge, but no OSVs. Quality Shipyards, Houma, La.

05 Apr 2004

Market Report: When Will the Turn Around Come?

It seems to be a soap opera without an end. "It is crazy…makes no sense at all," is a common observation. If you are in the oil and gas business, the number one question is, "When is the drilling going to pickup?" It is a question without an answer…at least through the first quarter of 2004. "Normally when prices are low and oil rises about $25 a barrel and gas goes above $2.50 per million cubic foot, everybody goes back to work," noted Roy Breaux, Jr., president of Breaux Bay Craft, Loreauville, La. a leading builder of crew/supply boats. "We drill ourselves out of recessions, but not this time, at least not yet" Breaux said. Breaux echoes the sentiment of almost everyone in the industry "The answer must lie in Houston because that's where the decisions on when to drill come…

11 Mar 2002

Pilot Boat Repower in Savannah Georgia

The Savannah Pilots Association have been operating their 57 by 16 aluminum pilot boat since 1984. Built at Louisiana's Breaux Bay Craft the boat has served them well. When they recently decided to replace the boat's engines they chose a pair of Cummins KTA19 M4 engines producing 700 HP each at 2100 RPM in a medium continuous duty rating. The change out of engines presented some unique challenges. The Cummins engines are narrower, but longer and taller than those being replaced so that it was necessary to lower the front of the engine beds by eleven inches and fabricate inverted mounts for the rear of the engines and the gears in order to retain the 14 degree shaft angle. At the same time the switch from a spring-type engine mount to rubber soft mounts added to the challenge.

22 Dec 2000

Great Boats of 2000

Every year, MarineNews chooses a handful of vessels delivered in the past 12 months and bestows upon them the distinction of “Great Boats.” The boats are chosen for innovations in design, construction and utilization. Following are the 17 vessels or groups of vessels chosen as the Great Boats of 2000. Crowley Marine Services delivered Alert, Attentive, and Aware, a series of three 140-ft., 10,000-hp Prevention and Response Tugs (PRTs), to Alyeska Pipeline Service Company in Valdez, Alaska. Specifically designed and developed for Alyeska, the boats will be used by Crowley in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System trade. Alert was deployed in February; Attentive was delivered in June, and Aware was delivered in July.

22 Dec 2000

Hvide to Add Two New Boats

Hvide Marine Incorporated has made an agreement to purchase two modern 152-ft. crewboats from Crewboats, Inc. The purchase price for the two vessels, which will join HMI's Seabulk Offshore fleet in the Gulf of Mexico, is $5 million. The company expects to take delivery of one vessel in December 2000 and the second in May 2001. "These are the 'hotshot boats' of the offshore industry," commented company president and CEO Gerhard E. Kurz, "and they command day rates of $3,500 and up in today's market, where focus is shifting to the deepwater and a premium exists for fast, reliable delivery of vital parts and supplies. Built by Breaux's Bay Craft…

12 Jan 2007

Larger Crewboat from Breaux’s Bay Craft

In keeping with the trend to larger crew/supply boat, Breaux’s Bay Craft of Loreauville, La., a have developed a new 175 x 31-ft. design. The first vessel being built to the new design will be for Joel Brousard’s J&B Operations of Lockport LA. Previously that yards largest boat was 162 x 30. The new larger design will increase capacities from 17,000 gallons of fuel to nearly 25,000 gallons and rig water will increase from 40,000 to almost 50,000. Propulsion on the new crew boat will be four V-16 KTA50 M2 engines rated for 1800 hp at 1900 rpm with a heavy-duty rating. The engines will turn 50x54-inch four-blade props on 5-inch through Twin Disc MG6848 gears with 2.93:1 reduction. Design speeds for the vessel are approximately 29 knots light ship and 27 knots with 110 tons of cargo.

21 Jun 2006

Breaux’s Bay Builds on Tradition

This coming September, Offshore Oil Services of Freeport Texas will add the eighth boat to their distinctively white-hulled fleet of crew boats when they take deliver of a new vessel from Breaux’s Bay Craft of Loreauville, Louisiana. With four generations involved in the maritime economies of Freeport the Muchowich family has named this latest addition to their fleet, the Anna M, for the wife of Capt. Carl Muchowich who first invested in a shrimp business there in the early 1930s. At 145 ft. over-all the Anna M has a 28-foot beam and 12-ft. molded depth. This will provide for 12,000 of fuel, 24,500 gallons of rig water, 800 gallons of potable water and 250 gallons each for lube and waste oil. The 84x23-ft. open aft deck will take up to 200 tons of cargo.

07 Jul 2003

Feature: Heavy Haulers … Fast Haulers

Mud, Mud, Mud. Liquid mud is the name of the game in the design of today's offshore service vessels. The drilling rigs not only want huge volumes of mud, but they want the vessels that serve them to be able to carry several different types of liquid mud. That means two or three separate piping and pumping systems to keep the mud from cross contamination. That also increases demands for automated control and alarm systems, many of which utilize touch screen controls. The rigs also need dry bulk cement, barite and other such products, so dry bulk tanks with 6,000 or so cu. ft. of capacity would be desired. Many rig owners would also like the vessels to carry methanol and…

17 Aug 1999

Vessel Sales Arranged by Marcon

Marcon International has reported the following sales, all arranged by the company. C & C Boats of Southern California has sold crewboat Irene T II (57 x 17.5 ft., built 1970 by Halter Marine) to Anchorage Launch of Portland, Ore. Anchorage will employ the boat in its ship services business on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. C & C Boats has also purchased U.S. flag 120 x 24 ft. crewboat Miss Johnette, which was built 1988 by Breaux Bay Craft from Graham Offshore of Texas. C & C will reposition the vessel to the West Coast and operate her in the oil fields off California.

02 Apr 2003

Feature:Tidewater Upgrades the Fleet

With over 550 vessels in service, Tidewater, Inc., is by far the world's largest offshore oil service operator. Headquartered in New Orleans, La., Tidewater operates wherever offshore oil and gas is found. While the industry has undergone a slow down in 2002-03, Tidewater is confident that current trends indicate business will improve and the company has been upgrading its fleet of vessels to meet customer needs. "We have a very strong balance sheet," said Stephen Dick, Executive Vice President of operations for North America, North Sea and West Africa for the company. "We have been moving aggressively in the area of new vessel construction, especially U.S. flagged supply boats and crew/supply vessels," Dick added.