Austal USA Enters Repair Market

Following an accidental collision by a large OSV while in port, the Seba’an was taken to the Austal USA facilities in Mobile, Ala., for an extensive but quick repair. The damage was to the starboard side at window height breaking all of the windows and damaging some of the fitout and internal structure on that side of the boat. Originally sold to a client in Japan as the passenger ferry “Speeder” by Austal Ships seven years ago, the ferry was purchased by Otto Candies, LLC, in December 1999, and renamed “Seba’an”. Bender Shipbuilding in Mobile converted the ferry to a crew/supply vessel by attaching a platform to the back of the boat for the loading and offloading of supplies and passengers and adding crew quarters inside. After the collision in Mexico, Otto Candies, LLC, contracted Austal USA to replace the broken windows, replace some sections of the superstructure side shell and framing, remake the midship boarding doors, rebuild most of the internal walls on the starboard side and paint. The repairs were completed in short order and the Seba’an was last month on her way back to Mexico just 3 ½ weeks after her arrival in Mobile. In less than a year of operation, Austal USA has proven itself as a leading aluminum shipyard in the US, capable of providing their “trademark” Austal performance criteria of conformance to requirements and on-time delivery which are well known in the global market in which the group has been operating for more than a decade. Since the yard opening in February 2001, Austal USA has produced and delivered two 150ft fast crew/supply vessels, and is currently building an 86ft passenger fast ferry catamaran and a 111ft dinner cruise vessel, demonstrating the diversity of this new yard.