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Article: Deep route: Louisiana shipyard dives into the offshore crewboat market.(175' Crewboats)(Groupe Bourbon S.A., Rigdon Marine L.L.C.)
- Article from:
- Workboat
- Article date:
- November 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Diversified Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For over a decade, Jeanerette, La.-based Island Boats Inc. had developed a reputation for building quality aluminum passenger vessels. But about two years ago, the market for new passenger vessels began to soften for several reasons, including potential customers opting to buy used vessels and fix them up instead of building new.
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At about the same time, activity by big oil companies such as Shell and Chevron in the U.S. Gulf ultradeepwater market continued to gain steam. In addition, medium-sized oil companies were moving into the deepwater arena, joining the big boys.
Miles Thomas, owner of Island Boats, saw an ...