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The CEO of an iconic marine industry company says a continued commitment to offshore oil and gas exploration – and to Louisiana – are vital components of its future plans.
Kirk Meche, president and CEO of Gulf Island Fabrication Inc., points to his firm’s completion earlier this year of the second largest lift boat in the world as an indicator of the company’s quality work.
The 182-foot Lift Boat Jill, built for Galliano-based Montco Offshore, is the sister vessel to the 182-foot Robert, also built for Montco Offshore by Gulf Island, and launched in 2012.
“We are proud to have been associated with this project and with Montco requesting a second vessel from us shows the confidence that Montco has in us and the quality we have come to be known for,” Meche said.
Gulf Island – the result of a partnership created 30 years ago that is now a publicly-traded international company with multiple subsidiaries in Texas and Louisiana – was born in the midst of an oil bust, but grew alongside the rebuilding industry.
The Gulf Island Houma campus sits on more than 600 acres and employs Alden Laborde and Huey Wilson, along with other investors, created the company after buying a company called Delta Fabrication.
Both men had long-standing marine and oilfield histories. Laborde was a founder of Tidewater.
They brought Kerry Chauvin, president of Delta, onto the team.
From that time on, the firm grew; its subsidiaries developing along with the needs of the oilfield and related industries, and its revenues became measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Gulf Island’s revenues took a dip last year – $507 million in 2014 compared to $608 million in 2013.
But in the company’s latest annual report Meche notes that during the same period “gross profit margins and earnings more than doubled, with gross profit margins at 8.8 percent for 2014 as compared to 3.9 percent for 2013 and earnings per share of $1.05 and 50 cents for 2014 and 2013, respectively. “
Meche expressed confidence last week in the firm’s ability to weather industry curveballs, like the recent dip of oil prices.
“Deepwater exploration will continue to be a vital part of our business in the future,” Meche said. “We will continue to position ourselves to provide services and products that meet this complex part of the oil and gas industry.”
But that doesn’t mean the company isn’t hedging its bets. As part of what shareholders were told is a commitment to keeping up with potentially profitable trends, Gulf Island is entering markets associated with manufacture of components related to wind-farming.
“In 2014, we signed a contract for the fabrication of five shallow water jackets associated with a wind farm located off the coast of Rhode Island,” the company’s investor report states. “We believe this is a growing market and we have positioned ourselves to be a vital part of it.”
Jackets are devices that hold the works of a spinning windmill.
But wherever the company’s expansions may be in the future, Meche says the firm’s commitment to Louisiana remains strong.
“As strong as it has ever been,” he said. “The quality and dedication of our Louisiana employees are the strongest that exist in the market place … Gulf Island is committed to provide jobs and support to the community. We are a Louisiana company here in the United States of America. We will do all we can to keep products bound for U.S. Waters built by a U.S. company. We have been in business for 30 years and plan to be here for a long time to come.”
Built by Gulf Island and owned by Montco, the lift-boat Jill is one of the three largest such vessels in the world. Gulf Island also built the Jill’ sister ship.
