Leevac Shipyards Llc News

On April 8, 2015, LEEVAC Shipyards, LLC delivered the second of two LEEVAC-designed 270 ft., diesel-electric, DPS-2 FIFI I Offshore Support, ACC Platform Supply Vessels, the Ram Country to Aries Marine Corporation. The Ram Country, likes its sister ship, Ram Nation, was constructed at LEEVAC Shipyard Jennings, LLC and later transported to LEEVAC Shipyard Lake Charles, LLC facility for the vessel’s outfitting, commissioning, and testing. Construction of the Ram Country spanned approximately 21 months from the cutting of steel to delivery.

From the design loft to loftier designs and better-built ships, software has changed the face, and build, of nautical vessels. The far-reaching impact of ship design and construction software on the marine industry cannot be overstated, especially in an era of increasing regulation, bigger, sometimes more complex ships, and razor-thin margins. With shipyards and fleet owners alike, the end goal is the same – cutting costs without compromising safety and reliability. And to hear ship designers…

LEEVAC Shipyards, LLC recently delivered the first of two Z-Tech 2400 harbor tug boats, the Chloe K to Bay-Houston Towing Co. TheChloe K was constructed at LEEVAC Shipyard Jennings, LLC and was later transported, via one of LEEVAC’s own dry-docks, to LEEVAC Shipyard Lake Charles, LLC facility where the Chloe Kreceived her final outfitting, commissioning, and testing. “This is the first tug that LEEVAC Shipyards, LLC has built in many years. This was namely due to the draft restrictions at our Jennings facility.

Bay-Houston Towing Co. announced it has taken delivery of the first Z Tech 2400 tugboat, the Chloe K, designed by Robert Allan Ltd. of Vancouver, and built by Leevac Shipyards LLC of Jennings, La. The Z Tech 2400 tugs are a smaller version of the Z Tech 7500 tugs that are already in Bay-Houston Towing Co.’s fleet. While they are smaller, they have enormous power for their size. •The forward deck (over the skeg) has a low, flat sheer, creating a spacious, relatively flat and safe working deck, without any obstructive anchor chains, etc.

LEEVAC Shipyards, LLC through its newly created subsidiary LEEVAC Shipyards Houma, LLC (LEEVAC) has completed the acquisition of substantially all assets of Quality Shipyards, Inc. (Quality) located at 3201 Earhart Street in Houma Louisiana from Tidewater Marine, LLC (NYSE: TDW). The acquisition of assets includes 35 acres of industrial property located on 2,500 feet of waterfront along the intracoastal waterway, 4 drydocks (the largest measuring 4,200 tons of capacity), 100,000 square feet of covered production facilities and several large track cranes.

Leevac Shipyards Jennings LLC, of Jennings, LA, a subsidiary of Leevac Shipyards, LLC signed contracts with Hornbeck Offshore Services, LLC, an affiliate of Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (NYSE:HOS) of Covington, La., for the construction of two  STX Marine SV 310 Multi-Purpose Supply Vessels; 302 x 76 x 26-ft,, 12,070 BHP diesel electric powered MPSV’s. “These will be the twenty-third and twenty-fourth vessels to be built by Leevac for Hornbeck” said Christian Vaccari, President and CEO of LEEVAC.

Siemens Industr awarded a multimillion dollar contract by LEEVAC Shipyards, LLC to equip two newly constructed Aries Marine Corporation marine platform supply vessels (PSV) with its unique diesel electric propulsion solution at Leevac’s facilities in Jennings, La. “The demands placed on the onboard systems and technologies of today’s PSVs are high as these vessels are specialized and tailored based upon particular machine layouts, power requirements, automation processes, climatic conditions and more,” says David Grucza, marine business manager, Siemens Industry, Inc. The two 270 ft PSVs will be outfitted with Siemens Blue multi-drive, low-voltage system.

LEEVAC Shipyards Jennings, LLC, Jennings, LA, has signed contracts with Bay Houston Towing Co. and Suderman & Young Towing Company, both of Houston, TX, to build two (2) 80' x 38' x 16' Z-Tech 2400 Class Terminal / Escort Tugs. "We are very excited to have this opportunity to begin this partnership with companies like Bay Houston and Suderman & Young" said Christian Vaccari, President of LEEVAC. "These vessels wil primarily service the escort and towing activity in our operations in the Ports of Houston and Galveston," said Mark Kuebler of Bay Houston Towing, Co. Construction for this Robert Allan design will begin immediately with delivery for the first and second vessels slated in June 2013 and September 2013, respectively.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $9.98 million in grants to 15 small shipyards throughout the United States to pay for modernizations which will increase productivity and help the country’s small shipyards compete in the global marketplace. “In cities and towns across America, shipyards are creating jobs and keeping our nation's economy growing," said Secretary LaHood. The U.S. Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Small Shipyard Grants Program provides equipment and technical skills training for America’s maritime workforce…

The Department of Transportation has announced 70 grants totaling $98m in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds that will be used to improve small shipyards throughout the United States. The funds, awarded through the Maritime Administration’s Assistance to Small Shipyards program, will help create and preserve jobs, provide valuable employment training and make much needed improvements to shipyards across the country. The Small Shipyards Grant program provides up to 75 percent in ARRA funds for a project and requires the remainder be matched by the shipyard. A detailed list of the grantees is as follows. •    Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc.,  Philadelphia, PA: $2,312,614, for the first year of training program.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration announced $9.8m in grants to 19 small shipyards in the . The grants are part of the new Assistance to Small Shipyards program, set up under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006. “Small shipyards are vitally important for the health of the maritime industry, and for the economy of the Nation,” said Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton. The purpose of the grants is to make capital and infrastructure improvements that facilitate the efficiency, cost-effectiveness and quality of domestic ship construction, conversion or repair for commercial and federal government use. The grants cover a maximum of 75-percent of the estimated cost of improvements. The companies are responsible for the remainder.

It is little secret that as offshore oil production moves further from shore, the boats that service these offshore units must be bigger, stronger and more capable than their ancestors. Here's a peak at emerging technologies and the boats that house them. The technology to cost efficiently discover and recover oil and gas in increasingly deeper part of the Gulf of Mexico has quickly led to the development of bigger, stronger and more ruggedly equipped Offshore Service Vessels, not only on drawings boards but operating on the waterways. The discovery of oil and gas fields such as Auger, Marlim and Mars, have among others, highlighted the vast potential for drilling success and the inadequacy of the current fleet of OSVs to perform the job as cost effectively as possible.