C&C Marine and Repair Adds Fabrication Space

Belle Chasse, La. shipyard C&C Marine and Repair said it has grown its indoor fabrication space to accommodate an expanding pipeline of newbuild and repair projects.

The shipyard announced Wednesday it has acquired from Versabar, Inc. a 35,000-square-foot fabrication building complete with four 40-ton overhead gantry cranes, equipped with 10-ton auxiliary cranes. C&C Marine and Repair took possession of the building from Versabar, following the expiration of a lease back provision in the 2018 Purchase Agreement. With the added space,  C&C brings its total under-roof, indoor fabrication facilities up to 540,000 square feet.

C&C Marine and Repair will utilize the new building for new construction projects. “We will make some minor modifications to the building, but otherwise we should be able to start vessel fabricating by June 2020,” said Tony Cibilich, owner of C&C Marine and Repair.

This latest expansion follows the completion of C&C's new 6,600-square-foot pipe blasting shop in March 2020, which allows the yard more flexibility with its production schedule by blasting and painting the pipe and fittings in-house

 “We were able to increase the footprint of an existing fabrication building by extending the slab and adding a lean-to. We outfitted the space with a Viking Automatic Pipe Blasting machine and an Automatic Pipe Fitting Blasting machine,” said Matthew Dobson, who oversaw the project for C&C Marine and Repair. The new facility measures 120’ x 55’ and is under-roof, and its machines can blast pipe between 1” and 12” in diameter.

While the recent expansion and improvements were being made, the yard has been keeping busy. Through the first quarter of 2020, C&C Marine and Repair has completed production of a 6,600 HP (Triple-Z Drive) towboat, a 2,600 HP towboat, two deck barges, a spud barge, and two 30,000 BBL tank barges. By the end of the second quarter, C&C Marine will have completed and delivered a second 2,600 HP towboat, another deck barge, and a 2,000 HP diesel-electric cutterhead suction dredge, in addition to multiple projects in various stages of construction.

Tony Cibilich, owner of C&C Marine and Repair states, “We have been fortunate to remain busy during the coronavirus pandemic. C&C Marine and Repair has had to implement new policies and make changes to our facilities to adapt to the impact of COVID-19, but there has been little impact to our production schedule. The new fabrication building will help with our current production, while providing the additional capacity for new jobs.”