LEEVAC buys out Quality Shipyards

LEEVAC Shipyards, a privately owned shipbuilder based in Covington, has acquired Quality Shipyards in Houma, the company announced on Monday.

The deal with Tidewater Marine nets LEEVAC a second ship repair facility, located at 3201 Earhart St. Among the assets the company has secured are 35 acres of industrial property, 2,500 feet of Intracoastal Waterway waterfront property, four dry-docks, 100,000 square feet of covered production facilities and several large track cranes.

“My message to the employees of Quality has been, and will continue to be that while Tidewater’s primary business is the ownership and operation of offshore service and supply vessels, LEEVAC’s core business is ship construction and ship repair,” Christian Vaccari, president and chief executive of LEEVAC, said in a printed statement.

Tidewater Vice President for Engineering and Technical Services Billy Brown said the company wants to continue its new-construction relationship and hopes to forge one in ship repair with LEEVAC.

“Many of the employees of Quality that will have an opportunity to join LEEVAC have been part of the Tidewater family for many years and we offer them our very best wishes in the years to come,” Brown said.

LEEVAC began prospecting for a new repair facility after repeated customer requests for one in southeast Louisiana. The company’s existing repair center is located in Lake Charles.

“The Houma facility is located closer to many of the shore based operations of our customers who operate in the Gulf of Mexico and inland waterways and also provides us some geographic diversification for our repair business,” Vaccari said. “Additionally, we plan to make investments in the facility that will allow us to expand our new construction business.”

Larry Vauclin has been named vice president and general manager of LEEVAC Shipyards. A 52-year shipyard veteran, Vauclin was Bollinger Shipyard’s vice president of the central division prior to joining LEEVAC. He managed Quality Shipyards for more than 27 years.

“We are very fortunate to bring Larry ‘home,’” Vaccari said. “He is without question a well-respected industry veteran.”

LEEVAC has specialized in construction and repair of platform supply and offshore supply vessels, tugs, barges, specialty and inland waterway vessels for 65 years. The company’s yard is located in Jennings.