On Tuesday, I visited Marine Transportation Services, an impressive little family-run owner, operator and builder of crewboats that has been around for about 40 years.
The Panama City, Fla.-based company manages a fleet of 14 crewboats that range in size from 110' to 140'. Each vessel, ranging from the oldest, the 39-year-old 115'x24' 1,800-hp Jannie D, to the newest, the 140'x30' 5,200-hp Kimberly D due for delivery next month, are exceptionally maintained at the company’s Queen Craft Shipyard. Once the Kimberly D is out the door, MTS plans on starting work on another 140 footer. The new crewboat features quad Cat C32 Tier 3 engines that each develop 1,300 hp at 2,150 rpm. That gives the new crewboat a top speed of 27 knots. It’s the first MTS vessel with Cats. The other 13 vessels in the fleet have Detroit Diesel engines.
Seventy-four-year-old owner Grover Davis is proud of his boats and the MTS operation. As he says, when customers charter an MTS vessel they hire “our complete marine facility,” which includes about 30 employees. That means MTS can offer a complete back up system of support facilities and solid, staunch vessels.
Grover took me on a tour of the yard, which specializes in the construction, refurbishment and repair of its vessels. Queen Craft has built or rebuilt each of MTS’s 14 vessels. The yard also features a diesel engine rebuild facility. MTS engines receive thorough overhauls and each is essentially a new engine when it leaves the shop. The facility has an impressive inventory of spare engines, transmissions and parts including propeller shafts, propellers, rudders, etc.
You can read more about MTS and its new crewboat, the Kimberly D, in the July issue of WorkBoat.
