Trinity Yachts and TY Offshore are delighted to announce the formation of the Gulf Coast Shipyard Group, together with its new investment partner, Littlejohn & Co., a multi-billion dollar private equity firm, based in Greenwich, CT. The Gulf Coast Shipyard Group will own and operate two significant Gulf Coast based shipyards, specializing in the new construction of commercial, military as well as luxury yachts.

Luxury charter yacht MI SUENO built by Trinity Yachts

Management—which has a long history of building and operating major diversified shipbuilding operations—is enthusiastic about its partnership with Littlejohn, which has a well-established track record of investing in and working with management teams to build significant competitive enterprises in their target industries. In addition to other positive industry dynamics, management and Littlejohn view the growth opportunities in the Gulf Coast as historic in proportion. Felix S. Sabates Jr. will step down as Chairman to become an advisor and consultant to the new organization.

John Dane III, President and CEO of Trinity Yachts and TY Offshore stated that “Littlejohn has an impeccable reputation along with the ability to bring equity, strategy and experience in order to successfully grow and diversify our operations. In addition, I am also happy to announce that we will be starting a long-planned $9 million capital improvement program to the Gulfport, Mississippi yard which will increase our efficiency and annual output. These improvements will also upgrade our Syncrolift to 4,300 tons in anticipation of ice class vessels for Arctic operations. All told, we expect these events will further establish our operations as a premier builder and major employer.”

Edmund J. Feeley, Managing Director of Littlejohn, said, “We look forward to our partnership with the Gulf Coast management team to continue the company’s strong growth trajectory into new markets.  The company has a strong backlog of orders, and oil and gas drilling and production activity is expected to remain strong with demand for vessels serving this industry expected to continue, as well as vessels targeted for other commercial and military markets.”