JEANERETTE — One month after delivering four high-speed patrol boats to the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard and two months following delivery of two custom-welded aluminum boats to the Virgin Islands Port Authority, Metal Shark has expanded by acquiring a shipbuilding facility in Mobile, Alabama.

Metal Shark CEO Chris Allard, who announced the acquisition Monday, said the company that got its start here as Gravois Aluminum Boats LLC acquired Horizon Shipbuilding after getting the go-ahead June 5 from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Alabama. Horizon Shipbuilding filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 in October 2017.

“We are thrilled to acquire the assets of Horizon, which will greatly increase our shipbuilding capability and capacity,” Allard said earlier this week about the 35-acre shipbuilding facility located in the Mobile Bay region a few minutes away from the Intracoastal Waterway.

“This acquisition will dramatically expand Metal Shark, as we add an impressive Alabama facility to our growing portfolio of shipyards and leverage Horizon’s expertise in the construction of steel vehicles.”

Metal Shark took ownership of a fully developed shipyard with separate east and west yards both fronting a dredged deepwater inlet. It has nine assembly buildings, a 660-ton Travelift, multiple cranes, CNC plasma cutters, welders and other fixtures supported the building of steel and aluminum vesdsels up to 300-feet in length and 1,500 tons launch weight.

Acquiring Horizon Shipbuilding is the latest expansion by Metal Shark. The company opened its 25-acre Franklin shipyard in 2014 and this year completed a new 200 x 80 vessel assembly building and 8,000-acre-square-foot office building at the site in Franklin.

The company’s home remains the 15-acre production campus in Jeanerette, which has expanded numerous times in recent years.

Nearly 200 boats a year for national and international militaries, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, passenger vessel operators and pilot associations are built by Metal Shark. Its customers for aluminum and steel boats include the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army.

With three fully self-contained facilities in Alabama and Louisiana spanning more than 75 acres, Metal Shark employs a workforce of more than 500 employees and produces more than 200 vessels a year. A company spokesman said it is recruiting heavily to bolster its workforce to support the expansions.

At the former Horizon Shipbuilding site along the coast of Alabama, Metal Shark plans to be active in the design and construction of custom steel vessels for multiple markets, as well as the refit, repair and conversion of existing vessels.

“As we add steel vessels to our already broad range of aluminum craft, we will offer everything from a 16-foot aluminum skiff to steel vessels up to 300 feet, and virtually everything in between, making the diversity of Metal Shark’s portfolio truly unmatched in the industry,” Allard said.

Also, he said, the Alabama site’s complete refit and repair services will appeal to customers throughout the Gulf, as well as in the South Florida and Caribbean yachting community.  Those clients will benefit from an accessible and modern facility with some of the most competitive labor rates in the country, he said.

The timing is right, he said.

“We will now incorporate Metal Shark’s technology, our production and project management methodologies, and the power of our in-house staff of over 40 engineers and naval architects to integrate these new vessels into our operations,” the Metal Shark CEO said. “We will also begin to separate our boatbuilding and shipbuilding efforts and recognize them as different entities. As we continue on this very calculated trajectory, we feel the conditions are perfect for the further growth and diversification of our portfolio.”

Allard said after filing for bankruptcy last year, Horizon Shipbuilding continued to operate under CEO Travis R. Short, who now will serve as executive vice president of Metal Shark.

The respected Metal Shark boatbuilding brand got its start as Gravois Aluminum Boats LLL in Jeanerette, where Carol Gravois and his son, Jimmy Gravois, made some of the most coveted welded aluminum saltwater fishing boats along the coast. Jimmy Gravois and Allard, a naval architect with a strong background in sales, shared a vision in the mid-2000s, one that developed into Metal Shark.