Billy Smith News

U.S.-based shipbuilder Metal Shark has launched a 48-meter (158’) aluminum catamaran expedition yacht, the first in its newly introduced lineup of high-speed, long range catamaran expedition yachts.The new Metal Shark M48, named Magnet, is the first-ever private recreational yacht built by Metal Shark, a diversified builder of aluminum and steel vessels for military and commercial operators worldwide. In addition to the M48, the company’s Metal Shark Yachts portfolio includes the M30 (30 meters / 100’) and M70 (70 meters / 231’).

Metal Shark announced it has secured a contract to build three 120’ x 35’ river towboats for Florida Marine Transporters, Inc. (FMT), signalling the U.S. shipbuilder’s entry into the towboat market.The four-decked, welded-steel, USCG Subchapter “M”-compliant towboats were designed by John W. Gilbert Associates, Inc. and will be powered by twin Cat 3512C Tier 3 marine diesel engines rated at 1,911 HP each. Construction is underway at Metal Shark Alabama, with deliveries commencing in 2019.With the FMT contract…

William S. Smith III (Billy) has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Trinity Yachts effective immediately. The announcement was made today by Shane Guidry, president and CEO of Harvey Gulf International Marine. Smith previously served as vice president of sales and marketing at Trinity Yachts and Gulf Coast Shipyard Group (GCSG), a position which was eliminated upon the purchase of the companies by Harvey Gulf on June 25, 2015. Smith is a founding member and current board member of the Superyacht Builders Association (SYBAss)…

In the more than two years since its founding, Mississippi-based TY Offshore, the former Trinity Offshore, has invested in a new yard in Gulfport and repaired its storm-damaged New Orleans holdings. The company has doubled its capacity and racked up new orders, president and CEO John Dane III said. TY Offshore designs and builds offshore barges, tugs, oilfield-support vessels and spill-response and patrol vessels. The company's new name, adopted in late June, should make business simpler. “We decided to rebrand for two reasons,” Dane said.

“The 2008 financial crash slowed  the luxury business, and the new class warfare coming out of Washington has made owning a large yacht out of favor. In the more than two years since its founding, Mississippi-based TY Offshore, the former Trinity Offshore, has invested in a new yard in Gulfport and repaired its storm-damaged New Orleans holdings. The company has doubled its capacity and racked up new orders, president and CEO John Dane III said. TY Offshore designs and builds offshore barges, tugs, oilfield-support vessels and spill-response and patrol vessels. The company's new name, adopted in late June, should make business simpler. “We decided to rebrand for two reasons,” Dane said.

The 2003 workboat construction market had its ups and downs and at best has given mixed signals about 2004 and beyond. Among the various workboat vessel segments, passenger vessels, excluding ferries and inland waterway vessels such as tugs and push boats, are in a static mode. Vessels will be built in 2004, but at a pace constant with years past. Some markets such as the building of patrol boats and other vessels with national security implications appear are sure bet winners for 2004 with several shipyards with large contracts that have deliveries stretched out for two years or more in some cases. Another market that continues to grow is high-speed aluminum passenger ferry and the slower passenger/vehicle ferries.

The Industrial Canal in New Orleans is aptly named. Connecting a tributary of Mississippi River with Lake Pontchartrain, it is much like a boulevard of broken dreams. Remnants of old shipyards, coffee-roasting facilities operating at half capacity and areas where the oil boom flourished and died dot the banks of the canal. Trinity Yachts, that has suddenly become the 800 lb. Gorilla of the megayacht business. Trinity Yachts was once a part Friede Goldman Halter Company, that corporate experiment that proved you couldn't put an oilrig builder and a boat builder together and get a company that meshes together. Trinity Yachts and was one of the first pieces of the company to be sold off.

Basic laws of supply and demand seem to have little impact on the megayacht market. It is driven by the financial health of the builders, not the purchasers. In the past, the market had been plagued by high profile bankruptcies of some of the builders, driving buyers to Europe or even the Far East for their dreamboats. Today the U.S. market is healthier because of one firm, Trinity Yachts of New Orleans. Trinity has been in business for a little over four years, but in that time they have continued to grow to a point where they are building a new outfitting building for vessels up to 250 ft. long and typically have three boats in their outfitting shed and three in fabrication. "Outfitting one of our boats takes at least a year," said Billy Smith, VP of Trinity Yachts.

There are a few top executives in the marine industry who "know when to hold them and when to fold them." Their insightfulness is legendary … always seeming to know the exact time to make a move professionally or personally. One of those people is John Dane III, president of Trinity Yachts LLC of New Orleans. Dane has a long and storied background in the marine industry, first as a engineer with Halter Marine, later as owner of Moss Point Marine, which was sold to Halter at which time Dane became president. When rig maker Friede Goldman purchased Halter, Dane became president but instinctively knew this was going to be a rough road.