Swiftships is a shipbuilding and marine engineering company headquartered in South Louisiana, USA.[1] Company operates globally[2] and specialized in the construction of small to medium sized vessels made of steel, aluminum or fiberglass.[1][3] Swiftships is involved in ship design, construction, repair and maintenance activities.
History
editFounded by Fred Sewart in 1942, Swiftships began as Sewart Machine Works and then as Sewart Seacraft[4] in 1946. Company became a supplier of “Swift Boats” to the US Navy during the Vietnam War (Swiftships delivered 193 Fast Patrol Crafts to the US Navy throughout the conflict).[2] The mission objective of the Swift Boat was to provide the Navy with a fast boat that could patrol the river shores for enemy soldiers.[5]
In 1969 the company was renamed as Swiftships.[6][1]
Since 2004 and for the next years, Swiftships built ships for the oil and gas industry of the Gulf of Mexico[7][8] and restored vessels for the Dominican Republic.[9]
Company has created its first fully unmanned surface vehicle in 2015, called Anaconda (AN-1), and later the Anaconda (AN-2), for which Swiftships teamed with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette[10] and augmented technology developers.[11][12]
Since 1942 Swiftships has designed and built over 600 naval vessels and commercial platforms.[3]
Co-production
editIn 2008 the company signed a contract with the Egyptian Navy, initiating a co-production program, building vessels in-country.[13] The partnership includes a yard in Alexandria, where the company produces patrol crafts.[14]
In 2009, Swiftships was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy to provide Follow on Technical Support on behalf of the Iraqi Navy that included the establishment of a Ship Repair Facility in Umm Qasr, Iraq.[15][16][17][18]
Yards
editIn 2020, Swiftships operates 3 yards in USA and 1 co-production yard (JV) with Egyptian Navy in Alexandria, Egypt:
- Morgan City, Louisiana[3]
- New Iberia, Jennerate,[19][20] Louisiana
- Freeport, Texas[8]
- Egyptian Shipyard Repair Building Co. - partnership with the Egyptian Navy to co-produce Swift vessels in Egypt under an approved MLA by the United States government.[21]
Products
editShip types include:
- Fast Patrol Vessels: company supplied vessels to Iraq (Swiftships Model 35PB1208 E-1455), Bahrain,[22] US governments and other.[23]
- Landing Craft: company has long-term agreement with a US government to build up to 32 new series LCU 1700 Class.[24][25][26][27]
- Corvettes: Swiftships started program with Pakistan Navy to build multi-purpose naval platforms, 75 meter corvette, for security and high threat missions.[28][29]
- Fast Supply Vessels: to Rodi Marine and other commercial groups.[3]
- Unmanned Surface Vessels- Anaconda (AN-2)[11][12]
References
edit- ^ a b c "BOSS Magazine | Swiftships: The Sea's Best Aluminum Water Vessel". BOSS Magazine. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ a b "Swiftly Going Places Where Others Fear". Swiftships. 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ a b c d "Swiftships". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Yachts .com Swiftship Yachts". www.yachts.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ Network, Warfare History (2019-06-10). "Swift Boats: How America Used These Tiny Warships to Wage War In Vietnam". The National Interest. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Swiftships back in commercial market". WorkBoat. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Back to Business". WorkBoat. 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ a b "Swiftships Completing 20-Acre Repair Yard In Freeport, Texas". magazines.marinelink.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Entregan dos guardacostas a la flota naval dominicana - Diario Dominicano". www.diariodominicano.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Swiftships, UL Lafayette develop unmanned boat for military". University of Louisiana at Lafayette. 2013-10-21. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
- ^ a b "AN-2 Anaconda". www.navaldrones.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ a b "Robotic Marine Vehicles: Meet the Anaconda-2". magazines.marinelink.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Egyptian Navy to get four more vessels from Swiftships". defenceWeb. 2016-07-06. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Swiftships Strengthening Its Global Presence". www.monch.com. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- ^ "Swiftships gets $14.5 million more for Iraq Navy support". Marine Log. 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Swiftships Orders Build Iraqi Navys Coastal Patrol Capabilities". Defense Industry Daily. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Swiftship cleared for $150m Iraqi Navy support contract". Naval Today. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "US Approves $150m for Iraqi Navy Vessels and Ship Repair". Iraq Business News. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ IBERIAN, DWAYNE FATHERREE | THE DAILY. "Breaux adapting to changing boat market". The Daily Iberian. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Swiftships". Interlink Capital Strategies. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Currently we building of 6 fast patrol aluminium". Egyptian Ship Repair&Building Co. 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Bahrain buys two American boats built Swiftships". weaponews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "BIDEC 2019: Swift Ships showcases fast patrol vessel and coastal patrol boat". www.armyrecognition.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "Contracts for February 4, 2019". U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ "NAVSEA Picks Swiftships LLC to Design, Build LCU Replacement in $18M Contract Award". USNI News. 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
- ^ "Landing Craft Utility (LCU) - Defense Daily". Defense Daily. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
- ^ Burgess, Richard R. (2020-04-03). "Navy Orders Four New LCU 1700 Utility Landing Craft from Swiftships". Seapower. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
- ^ "Pakistan orders two corvettes from US-based Swiftships". Quwa. 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ Correspondent, The Newspaper's (2017-11-02). "Pakistan Navy buying vessels for special operations from US company". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
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