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Jingles is more than just a pet
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Initially founded in 1913, Leevac Shipyards LLC celebrates its 50th anniversary of new ownership this year. Now with three locations in Louisiana, the company continues to “make it happen” in regards to maritime vessel construction, repair and design.
Leevac owner and CEO Christian G. Vaccari currently oversees three “full-service” shipyards in Jennings, Lake Charles and Houma.
The Jennings shipyard location, originally purchased by Vaccari’s father in 1965, has produced a variety of vessels in the past 50 plus years. The shipyard continuously acts as the company’s main site for new vessel construction.
“Historically, the Jennings yard has always been a new construction yard,” vice president of business development and engineer Dan Gaiennie said. “Over the years, they have built different types of barges, some fishing vessels and towboats.”
Beginning in the 1990s, Leevac entered the offshore industry through building supply vessels.
“Supply vessels have probably been the most dominant type of vessel that has come out of the yard since that time until now,” Gaiennie said. “We have four supply vessels under construction at the Jennings yard currently.”
After some time in the offshore industry, Vaccari was encouraged to affix repair to the company’s repertoire.
“He spent some time looking at the demographics of what is out there and built today” Gaiennie said. “About three or four years ago, he opened up a shipyard over in Lake Charles. There, we have two dry docks and plans to build bigger ones.”
The introduction of the Houma site was the result of a deal with Tidewater, a provider of large offshore vessels.
“In the summer of 2013, Chris spoke to Tidewater about taking over a project being built at the shipyard in Houma” Gaiennie said. “It ended up becoming a kind of three-phase deal.”
According to Gaiennie, Vaccari negotiated with Tidewater to take on the projects in Houma. The vessels travelled between Houma and Jennings before final outfitting, commissioning and delivery.
“While that was going on, it was also the beginning stages of another contract for two brand-new vessels that we are building now” Gaiennie said. “One of the vessels is actually heading to Houma this weekend for final outfitting, commissioning and testing.”
The third part of the “three-phase deal” was the actual takeover of the Houma yard in mid-July 2013.
With the addition of the Houma yard, Leevac Shipyards now maintains 10 buildings and 110,000 square feet of covered area for construction which includes a “full-service machine and fabrication shop with blasting and coating capabilities” according to the company’s website.
The Houma yard also has a component of new construction.
“These boats are getting so big and at the Jennings we have some restrictions on height, so we actually tow some of the boats over to Houma and finish them here,” Gaiennie said. “At the same time, we are doing our share of repair work as well.”
The Houma site employs approximately 160 workers.
“Unfortunately right now, repair is a little bit slow because of the oil prices,” Gaiennie said.
Overhead view of the Leevac shipyard on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near Mile Marker 55 at the Prospect Bridge. The Houma yard includes 10 buildings and 110,000 square feet of covered work area.
