Navy awards master ship repair agreement to Marine Group Boat Works

(CHULA VISTA and NATIONAL CITY, Calif.) — Marine Group Boat Works LLC (MGBW), a San Diego-based family-owned shipyard and boatbuilder, has been issued a master ship repair agreement (MSRA) with the United States Navy. On April 1, MGBW joined the ranks of much larger shipyards while remaining the small business that employees and the community have embraced for over the past 35 years. Traditionally, only the largest full-service shipyards have been issued an MSRA. Southwest Marine, MGBW’s predecessor, used to hold an MSRA, which makes this achievement a sort of homecoming for MGBW.

“For those of us who remembered Southwest Marine, this is taking us back in time to when we were awarded our first MSRA in 1976 and went on to become the largest ship repair company on the West Coast,” said Herb Engel, CEO of MGBW. “As a family-owned business, we are very pleased to have re-established this achievement as a small business.”

An MSRA-contracted organization must be capable of the full scope of large government ship repairs including planning, quality control, shipboard/off ship production, component/systems testing and trials for vessels including the new class of littoral combat ships (LCS) or larger. Marine Group is one of the first shipyards in recent history to be awarded a MSRA which qualifies the company to compete on firm fixed-price projects or “delivery orders” as they are sometimes called.

This means that Marine Group will provide the government a fixed-cost estimate to get the necessary repairs complete, therefore assuming the
responsibility of completing the project within the budget set for itself. Fixed-price contracts allow the government better budget forecasting and maintenance and ultimately can save the taxpayers’ money.

“This achievement further diversifies our portfolio. This type of diversification has allowed us to endure recessions and experience major growth which we have reinvested into our workers, facilities, tools and equipment,” said President Todd Roberts of MGBW. “As a result, we have the adequate resources to not only be able to accommodate the highly technical work involved with these MSR agreements but also allow the government to see us as a qualified service provider.”

The MSRA adds another segment to the Marine Group business model: new construction, yacht repair, commercial/government repair up to 220 feet and now complex Navy ship repair. MGBW is able to accommodate these large vessels after completing a $1.5 million floating dock system at its National City location, which offers deepwater access and maximum capacity to accommodate up to both classes of LCS. The renovations to its facilities also included adding new metalwork equipment and modern tools to increase overall production efficiency.

“The MSRA allows us to get back to what we used to do, legacy building. We’re very proud to see this full-circle moment happen, and excited to continue leading the way into a next generation of boatbuilding and repair,” said Engel.

For more information, visit www.marinegroupboatworks.com.

By Professional Mariner Staff