Metal Shark Boats

Metal Shark Boats is an American developer and builder of aluminum-hull vessels that operates shipyards in Jeanerette and Franklin, Louisiana.[1] It offers a variety of vessels ranging from commercial transportation to specialized law enforcement and military applications.

History

The company was founded as Gravois Aluminum Boats in 1986, building primarily small recreational vessels. As sales declined Gravois incorporated Metal Shark in 2005 with the goal of attracting governmental and commercial clients.[2][3] The company operated out of its Jeanerette facility, building boats up to 60 feet (18 m) in length primarily for government agencies, notably a $192 million contract for almost 500 small response boats for the United States Coast Guard.[4]

In January 2014, Metal Shark announced that it had purchased a 25 acres (0.10 km2) site in Franklin, Louisiana on the Charenton Bypass Canal and planned to establish a second shipyard there with the capacity to construct vessels up to 250 feet (76 m) in length. The facility opened in July 2014.[5] In December 2014, Metal Shark reached an agreement with the Damen Group to market and build Damen-designed ships.[6] As of 2016, Metal Shark had built about a thousand vessels for operators around the world.[7]

Metal Shark won the $54 million contract to build 13 Defiant class patrol vessels, under the supervision of the US Navy, intended to be given the USA's Caribbean neighbours.[8][9][10] The class of vessels is based on the Damen Stan 2606 design—the same design nearby rival Bollinger shipyards used for the US Coast Guard's very successful Marine Protector class of cutters.[11]

Metal Shark manufactures a smaller class of 38 feet (12 m) patrol vessels, also called the Defiant class.[12] Metal Shark delivered the first of several Defiant class vessels to Senegal and Cabo Verde in February 2018. Those vessels were gifts from the USA.

Operators

Operators of Metal Shark Boats:

References
  1. Walter Pierce (2017-05-17). "SEE-worthy". Business News. Retrieved 2018-06-15. Privately held, Metal Shark keeps its revenue figures close to the vest. Stickles declined to say what revenue is, but certainly Metal Shark would fall within ABiz's annual list of the Top 50 Private Companies in Acadiana. Yet the company had humble beginnings as Gravois Aluminum Boats in the mid 1980s.
  2. "Metal Shark Boats Gets Louisiana Governor's Award". Marine Link. June 6, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  3. "About Us". Metal Shark Boats. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  4. "Metal Shark announces expansion plans". Workboat. March 19, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  5. "Metal Shark opens new Louisiana shipyard". Workboat. July 30, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  6. "Metal Shark to Build Damen Designs". Marine Link. December 5, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  7. "MN100: Metal Shark Boats". Marine Link. August 24, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  8. "Defiant 80-85" (PDF). Metal Shark. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  9. "Damen, Metal Shark partner for NCPVs". Maritime Security. 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2018-07-07. Under the terms of the FMS, Metal Shark is building up to 13,85ft Defiant class welded aluminium cutters for the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and other US partner nations.
  10. "Defiant 80-85 brochure" (PDF). Metal Shark. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  11. Chuck Hill (2018-06-23). "Metal Shark Builds WPBs for FMS". Chuck Hill's blog. Archived from the original on 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2018-04-03. The Metal Shark boats are a version of Damen's Stan Patrol 2606 design, so nominally 26 meters long and 6 meters of beam, but according to the Website, 87′ length overall with a beam of 19'6″. The Marine Protector Class were also a Damen 2600 series design, so the two classes share a great deal of DNA.
  12. "NAVY NEWS WEEK 8-1" (PDF). Defenceweb.co.za. 2018-02-18. Retrieved 2019-05-01. The two 38 foot (11.5 m) Defiant class patrol boats were handed over to the Senegalese Navy during a ceremony on 8 February 2018 in Dakar, Senegal. The donation included boat repair and maintenance kits, and towing vehicles, and a two-week training session on the use and maintenance of the vessels.
  13. "U.S. Presents Shark Boats to Bangladesh Navy". Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  14. "US hands over six patrol boats to Coast Guard". The Daily Star. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  15. "MRAP vehicles and Metal Shark Boats arrive from the US". Prothom Alo. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  16. "U.S. Sending Metal Shark Maritime Combat Boats to Ukraine, Company Says". USNI News. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  17. "Ukrainian Sea Guard will receive Defiant and Fearless speedboats from the United States". Militarnyi. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
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